completely

American

[kuhm-pleet-lee] / kəmˈplit li /

adverb

to the whole amount or extent; fully.

Although the river never dries up completely, there are times when the water is barely a trickle.
thoroughly; totally.

I was so completely disoriented by the chiming of Big Ben as I stood below it that I walked into someone with my ice cream.
Great storytelling and successful social media campaigns are completely interconnected.

Other Word Forms

quasi-completely adverb
subcompletely adverb
uncompletely adverb

Etymology

Origin of completely

complete + -ly

Explanation

Use completely to describe something that is totally and utterly...something. A completely ridiculous idea is absolutely crazy and stupid. Completely is an adverb that comes from the Latin completus, "to fill up." We use it to mean "entirely" or "wholly." So if a building is completely destroyed, no part of it is left standing. Reading a newspaper story or watching a documentary film completely means you finished it from beginning to end. And doing so can completely change your view on an issue.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing completely

Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly

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Novel Study: The Hobbit, Chapters 6–9

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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.

"The prognosis remains critical. But a chance of survival cannot be completely ruled out," Backhaus said.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

It started with creating a show where comics could tell completely uncensored, unhinged real-life stories.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Uranium is the only baseload-energy source on earth that is completely insulated from maritime chokepoints.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

“We have to be completely agile and ready to move in the direction that is required,” she said on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, D.C.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Clare was both completely unprepared and completely unready to be done.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023