expressly
Americanadverb
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for the particular or specific purpose; specially.
I came expressly to see you.
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in a clear, direct, or definite manner; explicitly.
I asked him expressly to stop talking.
adverb
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for an express purpose; with specific intentions
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plainly, exactly, or unmistakably
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of expressly
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at express, -ly
Explanation
Something done expressly is done only for a very specific reason or purpose. Growing up, your grandparents' formal living room might have been used expressly for adult parties. A politician running for office might use campaign donations expressly for buying television ads, and a middle school student might use her school laptop expressly for chatting with her friends and posting photos online. In both cases, there is one very specific intention. The earliest, fourteenth century meaning of expressly was "in detail" or "plainly." By 1600, it came to mean "for the express purpose," from the Latin expressus, "clearly presented."
Vocabulary lists containing expressly
The Importance of Being Earnest
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The Merchant of Venice
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Pre-AP Theatre
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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.
“Guests should be able to expressly opt in to this type of sensitive facial recognition technology with written consent — the onus of privacy rights should not be on the victim.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
Nor did the Supreme Court in Kennedy purport to overturn every decision that relied on Lemon; to the contrary, it expressly acknowledged and distinguished several such cases as good law.
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026
The FCC says on its website that the "First Amendment and the Communications Act expressly prohibit the Commission from censoring broadcast matter".
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
But as the AGs’ lawsuit notes, “Section 122 expressly differentiates between ‘balance of payments’ and ‘balance of trade.’
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026
She, as she called it, turned to, and soon I sat at a clothed table with bowls of food expressly cooked for me.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
