clearly

[ kleer-lee ]

adverb

1. in a clear manner:

   It is difficult to explain complex matters clearly.

2. without equivocation; decidedly:

   It is clearly out of the question to drop the case.

clearly

/ ˈklɪəlɪ /

adverb

1. in a clear, distinct, or obvious manner

   I could see everything quite clearly

2. sentence modifier it is obvious that; evidently

   clearly the social services must be flexible

Word History and Origins

Origin of clearly¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, Middle English clerli; clear, -ly

Synonym Study

Clearly, definitely, distinctly, evidently imply the way in which something is plainly understood or understandable. Clearly suggests without doubt or obscurity: expressed clearly. Definitely means explicitly; with precision: definitely phrased. Distinctly means without blurring or confusion: distinctly enunciated. Evidently means patently, unquestionably: evidently an error.

Example Sentences

The way Musk and Ramaswamy have been talking, they clearly have the idea that they’ll be cleaning house from Day 1 onward—just like Musk did when he bought Twitter in late 2022, brought his friends and cronies on as consultants for cost cuts, ousted the company’s executives, and went on to lay off thousands more staffers.

From Slate

Providing the help that homeless people need is a difficult, long and expensive task, and residents clearly still believe in that mission.

From Los Angeles Times

That political divide is clearly dissolving, even if all the dislocations of the past eight years have barely budged the metropolitan economy from its perch.

From Slate

"Seeing Earth so clearly, the swirls of clouds and the oceans, made me think about the geopolitical boundaries that we construct and how actually we are completely interconnected."

From BBC

Detectives enlisted the help of a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the three videos who agreed that it was clearly a human in a bear suit.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• apparently
• certainly
• definitely
• distinctly
• evidently
• obviously
• openly
• plainly
• positively
• precisely
• seemingly
• surely
• undoubtedly