basically
Americanadverb
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in a way that involves or affects the fundamental character or condition.
The building needs a few repairs, but is basically sound.
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as a recap of the main point or idea; if put simply or briefly.
Basically, her advice boils down to “Eat a sensible, balanced diet, and relax.”
adverb
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in a fundamental or elementary manner; essentially
strident and basically unpleasant
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(sentence modifier) in essence; in summary; put simply
basically we had underestimated mother nature
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of basically
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.
“If you have a little cash, that’s OK because I don’t think stocks are going straight up as they basically did until the past few months,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
That $40 billion would represent basically all of the company’s projected $44.5 billion in revenue this year, according to FactSet.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
“We had a handful of bands that basically just said, ‘We’re not coming.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
So you’ve got regulation and legislation basically foreclosed by Supreme Court decisions, and that leaves litigation.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
There are basically two possible whole tone scales.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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.
