completely

American

[kuhm-pleet-lee] / kəmˈplit li /

adverb

to the whole amount or extent; fully.

Although the river never dries up completely, there are times when the water is barely a trickle.
thoroughly; totally.

I was so completely disoriented by the chiming of Big Ben as I stood below it that I walked into someone with my ice cream.
Great storytelling and successful social media campaigns are completely interconnected.

Other Word Forms

quasi-completely adverb
subcompletely adverb
uncompletely adverb

Etymology

Origin of completely

complete + -ly

Explanation

Use completely to describe something that is totally and utterly...something. A completely ridiculous idea is absolutely crazy and stupid. Completely is an adverb that comes from the Latin completus, "to fill up." We use it to mean "entirely" or "wholly." So if a building is completely destroyed, no part of it is left standing. Reading a newspaper story or watching a documentary film completely means you finished it from beginning to end. And doing so can completely change your view on an issue.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing completely

Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly

Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!

Novel Study: The Hobbit, Chapters 6–9

Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Vrabel said in the same article: “Those photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

He once had the power to break politicians, but now he’s completely out of step with black voters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds called the water supply disruptions faced by businesses and homes "completely unacceptable".

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Their research shows that a quantum process can seem completely memoryless when viewed one way, yet still retain memory when examined from another angle.

From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026

Of course they had never seen fire, or flame, in the kennel—it was all completely new to them.

From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023