systematically
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of systematically
First recorded in 1640–50; systematic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )
Explanation
If you do something systematically, you do it in an orderly, methodical way. Someone who systematically records her dreams is careful to write them in a notebook every single morning. Use the adverb systematically when you describe something that's carried out in a deliberate way, especially following a plan. You might systematically memorize every word in the dictionary, starting with A and working your way through the alphabet, or watch a toddler systematically pick up one Cheerio at a time from his bowl and throw it on the floor. Systematically and systematic come from a Greek root, systematikos, or "combined in a whole."
Vocabulary lists containing systematically
Hard Times
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly
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South of Somewhere
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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.
Why did that civilization appear to have systematically smashed and buried its treasures in ceremonial pits?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
“A lot of this has yet to be systematically studied and documented,” the professor said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Kratsios said in a memo at the time that the campaigns were aimed to "systematically undermine American research and development and access proprietary information".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Without material from the far side, they could not directly test whether solar wind implantation differed systematically between the two hemispheres.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Goebbels—a particularly vicious anti-Semite who had engineered much of Hitler’s political rise—was now systematically dismantling what remained of a free press in Germany.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
