exactlyadv.
/ᵻɡˈzak(t)li/, /ɛɡˈzak(t)li/, U.S. /ɪɡˈzæk(t)li/, /ɛɡˈzæk(t)li/ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > completeness > [adverb]
fullyeOE
allesOE
fullOE
rightc1175
everydealc1300
wholec1300
whollya1325
finelyc1330
fairly1340
completec1374
gainlya1375
clearly1377
freelya1393
plaina1393
entire?a1400
entirelyc1400
oddlyc1400
sufficientlyc1440
expressc1475
totally1509
completely1526
finec1530
exactly?1531
sincerely1576
start1599
fillingly1611
circularly1618
solid1651
out-over1745
rotundly1775
roundedly?1802
whole hog1840
clear-away1883
whole cloth1917
righteous1948
?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye To Rdr. sig. a3 The scripture is for that entent lefte with vs that it maye be vnderstonde of vs exactlye and to the vttmost poynte.
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 200 A figure like your father, Armed to poynt, exactly Capapea, Appeeres before them.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre v. xxx. 283 His frontier cities..are exactly fortified.
1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. i. 60 In the Life to come, when we shall questionless glorifie God exactliest, we shall have, etc.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 88 Glass-Tubes..exactly closed; or Hermetically sealed at the one end.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 48 I could not find it had any in places exactly darkned.
1680 Bp. G. Burnet Some Passages Life Rochester (1692) 7 He was exactly well bred.
c1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 108 On the top of wch hill you see a vast prospect Exactly Round it.
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 357 They are..exactly proportion'd in their Features.
2. In an exact or accurate manner; with careful attention to detail; with strict conformity to rule; punctually; with propriety. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > care, carefulness, or attention > [adverb] > with scrupulous care or attention to detail
narrowlyeOE
narrowOE
wellOE
busilyc1225
inwardly?c1225
closely1509
nearly1540
near1560
searchingly1574
nicely1597
exactly1612
strictly1632
close1642
pressly1642
scrutinously1650
minutely1690
scrupulously1712
tightly1758
keenly1824
slippery1828
meticulously1961
1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. xxi 249 Learning to construe the Hebrew into the Latine exactly.
1644 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 66 I went to see more exactly the rooms of the fine Palace of Luxembourg.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 5 He..remember'd he was to sup with a Friend, and went exactly to his Appointment.
1712 T. Tickell Spectator No. 410. ⁋1 A Lady most exactly dressed from Head to Foot.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 87 Let it be quickly dried on the outside, and exactly weighed.
1774 Ld. Chesterfield Lett. to Son I. xlii. 135 We must..not pass a word which we do not understand..without exactly inquiring the meaning of it.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. viii. 682 The sixth part [of his revenues] had been exactly paid.
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley iv. 66 He paid for his lodging exactly and regularly.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > clarity > [adverb] > explicitly
in termsc1400
apresslya1450
expressly1509
preciselya1513
by termsa1525
formally1526
expressedlya1555
explicately1606
pointingly1607
evolvedlya1641
exactly1646
syllabically1654
explicitlya1657
pointedly1775
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. ix. 36 I adhere unto Archimedes who speaketh exactly, rather than the sacred Text which speaketh largely. View more context for this quotation
4. Of knowledge or statement: Accurately, with strict correctness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > [adverb] > correctly, properly
on (also upon) righteOE
righteouslyeOE
arightc970
rightfully1340
accurately1581
nicely1597
exactly1776
square1868
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 23/1 I do not know his age exactly, he is a young man.
1866 G. MacDonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. (1878) xi. 225 I could not repeat the words exactly to Old Rogers.
1879 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. (new ed.) vii. 240 The circumference..more exactly expressed..is 3·14159 times the diameter.
5.
a. Of resemblance, agreement, adaptation, correlation: Precisely; without any discrepancy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > [adverb] > in accordance with original
faithfullyc1425
sincerely1560
exactly1662
strictly1763
realistically1846
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adverb] > so as to match truth, exactly
rightlyeOE
rightOE
faithfullyc1425
preciselya1513
justlya1538
verbatim1566
strictly1602
exactly1662
correctlya1704
prezactly1835
sensu stricto1849
perzactly1850
'zackly1886
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. vi. §2 Every event is not exactly correspondent to the prediction.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xi. 107 I was of opinion, that two such places would fit our two daughters exactly.
1806 C. Hutton Course Math. (ed. 5) I. 145 Divide the numerators by each other, and the denominators by each other, if they will exactly divide.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. x. 65 When this hail was squeezed together, it exactly resembled a mass of oolitic limestone.
b. Qualifying a predication of identity, a specified quantitative relation, position, manner, time, etc.: Precisely, ‘just’, as opposed to approximately.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] > of calculated result
exactly1658
exact1677
1658 F. Osborne Hist. Mem. Reigns Elizabeth & Iames Ep. sig. A5 Good Books..running..so exactly the fate of Acorns.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. i. 13 Every other workman being exactly in the same situation. View more context for this quotation
1809 J. Roland Amateur of Fencing 26 It is not a general rule to recover exactly in the same position of your sword.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 720 The seventh division falls exactly on the bend of the knee.
1823 C. Lamb Mackery End in Elia 175 Had I twenty girls, they should be brought up exactly in this fashion.
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 56 The English will go exactly as if they were in England.
1858 D. Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Philos.: Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, & Heat (new ed.) 329 The difference..will be found to be exactly equal to the height of a column, etc.
a1891 Mod. Exactly at one o'clock Her Majesty arrived. You are exactly the man for the post.
c. elliptical expressing entire approval of, or concurrence in, a suggested statement. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > approval [interjection]
exactly1866
yah! yah!1886
good stuff1909
good (also nice) thinking1968
roots1974
shiok1977
big-up1993
1866 W. S. Gilbert in Fun 3 Mar. 242 ‘I'm boiled if I die, my friend,’ quoth I, And ‘Exactly so,’ quoth he.
a1891 Mod. ‘Then you think the letter is a forgery?’ ‘Exactly’.
d. with expressed or implied negative, often used when the statement denied is to be replaced by another somewhat similar in effect.
ΚΠ
a1891 Mod. Without exactly denying it, he led me to believe it was not true. He is not exactly a scholar, but he has read a great deal.
e. not exactly: used ironically for ‘not at all; by no means’. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > impossibility > [adverb] > by no means
no waya1400
in no sauce1542
for love or money?1576
nil1581
nohow1775
not exactly1893
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [adverb] > by any means or at all > by no means or not at all
naughteOE
not exactly1893
no what1900
1893 C. M. Yonge & C. R. Coleridge Strolling Players xxxii. 292 I wasn't exactly going to send in my checks this time.
1905 A. Lang Adv. among Bks. 222 Though some of our modern novelists think it coarse and degrading, Hawthorne did not think so, and they are not exactly better artists than Hawthorne.
1949 M. Muggeridge Affairs of Heart vii. 125 She was not exactly pretty even then. In fact, she was not pretty at all—which is what the use of the word ‘exactly’ usually signifies.
1964 E. Ambler Kind of Anger vi. 169 ‘And you're not laughing?’ ‘I'm not exactly bursting my sides, no.’
1968 Win 15 Oct. 16/1 Yeah, I'm scared out of my mind. The thought of prison doesn't exactly excite me.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.?1531