truly
- 01 B1 Intermediate
used to show that you are being honest about your feelings or opinions.
used to emphasize the sincerity or genuineness of a statement, feeling, or belief.
Simple“I am truly sorry for the mistake I made yesterday.”
In context“She was truly moved by the kindness of the local community during her recovery from the accident.”
UsageOften placed before an adjective or a verb to emphasize the speaker's sincerity.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
in a way that is true or matches the facts.
in accordance with truth or fact; used to confirm the reality of a situation.
Simple“It is hard to know what truly happened without any witnesses.”
In context“The documentary attempts to show how the explorers truly lived during their long winter in the Arctic.”
UsageFrequently used in questions or negative statements to challenge or confirm facts.
Antonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
used to emphasize a quality, meaning 'very' or 'extremely'.
used as an intensifier to emphasize the degree of a quality or state.
Simple“The view from the top of the mountain was truly beautiful.”
In context“The architect's latest design is a truly remarkable achievement in sustainable urban planning.”
Teacher's tipWhile 'truly' is common in writing, 'really' is much more frequent in everyday spoken English for this sense.
Synonyms
“When they talk to Putin about European values, he truly laughs out loud.”
“However our mothers behave, the fact is we will never truly know them.”
From Middle English truely, treuly, treuli, trewely, treoweliche, treowliche, from Old English trēowlīċe (“faithfully; truly”), equivalent to true + -ly. Cognate with Dutch trouwelijk, Middle Low German truwlike, German treulich, Swedish trolig, Icelandic trygglega.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.