commonly
Americanadverb
-
often; frequently.
commonly used words.
-
usually; generally; ordinarily.
- Synonyms:
- routinely, customarily, normally
-
in a common manner.
adverb
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usually; ordinarily
he was commonly known as Joe
-
derogatory in a coarse or vulgar way
she dresses commonly
Etymology
Origin of commonly
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English communeli(che); equivalent to common + -ly
Explanation
The adverb commonly is good for talking about something that usually or ordinarily happens. Mice, for example, are commonly afraid of cats. Commonly describes an action that's to be expected. You could say that the bus commonly picks you up fifteen minutes late, or that colds and flu are commonly passed around between kids at school. The earliest use of commonly, around 1300, was to mean "in a way common to all," from the adjective common, or "belonging to all." The Latin root communis means "in common, public, or shared by all or many."
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.
She commonly sees kitchens where infrequently used gadgets take up "prime real estate"; things which could be stored in drawers, cupboards or even the loft, if it's something really gathering dust.
From BBC • Jun. 28, 2026
Every match was approved by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder and former leader of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026
And at the 2026 World Cup, Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar José Évora Dias — more commonly known as Vozinha — has become that breakout star.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 26, 2026
In Tennessee, “inappropriate marital conduct” is a commonly cited ground in a fault-based petition for divorce.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026
In Darwin’s time, the most commonly accepted mechanism of heredity was a theory advanced by the eighteenth-century French biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
