phonetically

American  

[fuh-net-ik-lee] / fəˈnɛt ɪk li /

adverb

1. involving the sounds, production, or transcription of speech.

   Many children learn to read phonetically, by sounding out the letters of each word.

   Peas and beans are linked phonetically not only by the repeated vowel sound, but also by the initial consonants—the sounds p and b are both produced in the same way.

2. according to the way something is pronounced.

   When he has to write words he doesn’t know, Jabez gets his point across by spelling phonetically.

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Other Word Forms

• nonphonetically adverb
• unphonetically adverb

Etymology

Origin of phonetically

phonetic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )

Example Sentences

Yet the star’s presence — in a Spanish-language chorus whose lyrics Bieber learned phonetically over the course of a four-hour recording session — turned “Despacito” into a global juggernaut.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Oliver joked that Vance learned how to laugh through reading about it in books or comics, "saw it written out phonetically, and intellectually understood the noises Archie made."

From Salon • Aug. 12, 2024

The first experiment involved the participants remembering words in order -- words that were similar, either phonetically or in spelling, e.g. "bought," "caught," "taut" and "wart."

From Science Daily • May 14, 2024

It is pronounced phonetically “wa thame tech we”.

From Washington Times • Nov. 17, 2023

Miss Jiménez liked to teach us English through song, and we learned all our songs phonetically, having no idea of what the words meant.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago