completely
Americanadverb
-
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing completely
Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Novel Study: The Hobbit, Chapters 6–9
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Next to the “fine people” hoax, only one thing has struck me as more completely cynical, to the point where I almost couldn’t believe what I was watching in real time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
"However, I have seen thousands more of those cases be completely and utterly legitimate."
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
I was skeptical, which is usually a sign that something will either completely fail or become a staple.
From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026
Worryingly, Jones draws a close analogy with the present-day situation as he expects the deluge of planned IPO issuance this year, in the form of SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, to inundate the market completely.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
“But the flip side of not ‘looking right’ means you can walk away from it completely and never ask yourself if that’s actually out of respect, or just out of fear.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
