accurately

American  

[ak-yer-it-lee] / ˈæk yər ɪt li /

adverb

1. in a way that is free from error or defect and consistent with a standard, rule, or model.

   She worked on aircraft before they left on missions; the work needed to be done fast and accurately to ensure safety on all flights.

2. correctly; precisely.

   He’s a good lacrosse player; he passes well and can shoot accurately.

   Humans are generally afraid of death—or, more accurately, don't want to die.

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Other Word Forms

• hyperaccurately adverb
• superaccurately adverb
• unaccurately adverb

Etymology

Origin of accurately

accurate ( def. ) + -ly

Explanation

Anything done accurately is done correctly or with very few mistakes. Many things should be performed accurately, especially brain surgery. When you're accurate, you're precise: you get things right. To do something accurately is to do it in a precise, correct, careful manner. A baseball player with a good batting average hits the ball accurately. An accountant who never makes mistakes juggles the numbers accurately. If you got 100 on a test, you performed accurately. The opposite of this word is inaccurately, which means you did something wrong, incorrectly, or with a lot of mistakes.

Example Sentences

But experts say that description doesn’t accurately explain why this area routinely flares up — at least, geologically speaking.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

With the raw certainty of a medium reaching into the future — or perhaps more accurately, someone feeling a fever coming on — Sam has been anticipating Mary’s arrival.

From Salon • Apr. 24, 2026

Would they accurately present his honking laugh, his quiet scoff, his John Waters sense of humor?

From Slate • Apr. 23, 2026

Participants, all university students, completed short daily tests that measured how quickly and accurately they could think.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026

Writer Ernest Seeman accurately portrayed the Durham of his youth when he described this neighborhood of “large houses and well-groomed lawns, where several of its richest and most righteous rajputs and masters of machinery lived.”

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• exactly
• meticulously
• precisely