exactly

American  

[ig-zakt-lee] / ɪgˈzækt li /

adverb

1. in an exact manner; precisely; accurately.

2. in every respect; just.

   He will do exactly what he wants.

3. quite so; that's right.

---

idioms

1. not exactly,

   1. in no way; not at all.

      It’s not exactly funny, is it?

   2. not completely so, but nearly so.

      The burgers are not exactly raw, but they need more cooking.

   3. (as an ironic response) no.

      “Is that the jacket you ordered?” “Not exactly.”

exactly British  

/ ɪɡˈzæktlɪ /

adverb

1. in an exact manner; accurately or precisely

2. in every respect; just

   it is exactly what I want

3. ironic not at all; by no means

---

1. just so! precisely!

Etymology

Origin of exactly

First recorded in 1525–35; exact + -ly

Example Sentences

Although Lloyd may not care to look at them, there are all sorts of fancy metrics that illustrate exactly how odd it is for Arizona to mothball the 3-pointer.

From The Wall Street Journal

"For high-performance tools, it is essential that materials remain stable and durable even under extreme conditions. And that is exactly what makes these materials ideal for data storage as well."

From Science Daily

Dealt a bad card with the safety car but couldn't exactly carve his way through the field and couldn't find a way past Leclerc for the final podium place.

From BBC

Economists can only guess where exactly neutral is, but a growing contingent of Fed officials say they may have hit it.

From The Wall Street Journal

"When the big image of the product appears on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience's watches. But we know we won't hit 40 minutes exactly".

From Barron's

Related Words

• absolutely
• altogether
• carefully
• completely
• correctly
• definitely
• explicitly
• indeed
• literally
• precisely
• quite
• specifically
• strictly
• totally
• truly