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absolutely

[ab-suh-loot-lee, ab-suh-loot-]
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adverb
  1. without exception; completely; wholly; entirely: You are absolutely right.
  2. positively; certainly.
  3. (of a transitive verb) without an object.
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interjection
  1. (used emphatically to express complete agreement or unqualified assent): Do you think it will work? Absolutely!
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Origin of absolutely

First recorded in 1525–35; absolute + -ly

Synonyms

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1. totally, unqualifiedly. 2. unquestionably, unequivocally, definitely.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

doubtlesspreciselyunconditionallyexactlyunquestionablyactuallydefinitelysurelytrulypositivelyreallycategoricallythoroughlywhollycompletelyutterlyfullyentirelydecidedlyeasily

Examples from the Web for absolutely

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I have absolutely refused the latter, let what will (as I have told her) be the consequence.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • And I declare to you, that I know not my own heart, if it not be absolutely free.

    Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)

    Samuel Richardson

  • Thackeray thought that it had "absolutely stopped" the sale.

  • The ability to love cleanly and absolutely is the supreme virtue.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • It has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of you, or with our schemes for money-making.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for absolutely

absolutely

adverb
  1. in an absolute manner, esp completely or perfectly
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sentence substitute
  1. yes; certainly; unquestionably
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for absolutely

adv.

late 14c., "unconditionally, completely," from absolute (adj.) + -ly (2). From mid-15c. as "without reference to anything else, not relatively;" meaning "to the utmost degree" emerged by mid-16c. As a colloquial emphatic in American English, it is attested from 1892.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper