basically
/ˈbeɪsɪkli
/adverb [often as submodifier]
1In the most essential respects; fundamentally: we started from a basically simple idea...
- Like so many excellent ideas, the school bus scheme is basically simple.
- Most complexity in the world is introduced to cover up the fact that life is basically quite simple to sustain.
- This is basically very simple, and some of you may noticed that I threatened to say this.
Synonyms
fundamentally, primarily, principally, chiefly, essentially, elementally, firstly, predominantly;
above all, first of all, most of all, first and foremost, in essence, at bottom, at heart;
mostly, for the most part, in the main, mainly, on the whole, by and large, substantially, in substance;
intrinsically, inherently;
French au fond
informal at the end of the day, when all is said and done, when you get right down to it
1.1 [sentence adverb] Used to indicate that a statement summarizes the most important aspects, or gives a roughly accurate account, of a more complex situation: I basically played the same thing every night...
- He's just given quite a long statement but is basically reasserting his innocence.
- That symbolic statement basically freed him from all the pain he was in.
- Her eyes snapped up, basically indicating that she was indeed jealous.