wholly
- 01 C1 Advanced
completely and entirely, with no exceptions.
to the fullest extent or degree; used to indicate that a state or action is absolute.
Simple“The two situations are wholly different and cannot be compared.”
In context“The committee found that the initial reports were wholly inaccurate, leading to a complete restructuring of the project's timeline.”
UsageAs a non-gradable adverb, it does not take modifiers like 'very' or 'extremely'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
only or solely; involving nothing else.
exclusively or solely; indicating that a particular factor is the only one involved.
Simple“The company is now wholly owned by a larger international group.”
In context“The success of the initiative was wholly dependent on the cooperation of local authorities, without whom the plan would have failed.”
UsageFrequently used in legal or business contexts to describe ownership or responsibility.
SynonymsAntonyms
“Songs that are largely or wholly created by AI have been banned from Australia's music charts.”
“Anthropic’s contracting behavior makes the point: At a wholly owned site, Anthropic controls the terms directly.”
From Middle English holly, holeliche, holliche (also as halely, hallich, etc.), equivalent to whole + -ly. Doublet of holy.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.