extremely
Americanadverb
adverb
-
to the extreme; exceedingly
-
(intensifier)
I behaved extremely badly
Usage
What does extremely mean? Extremely means to a very great degree—exceedingly. Instead of saying I’m very very tired, you could say I’m extremely tired. Extremely is the adverb form of the adjective extreme, which means of the highest degree or intensity. Extremely is almost always used to modify (describe) adjectives and almost never verbs. It emphasizes or intensifies the meaning of the adjective and indicates that its level is far beyond the ordinary. Example: At some times during the winter, it gets so extremely cold here that it’s dangerous to go outside for more than a minute.
Etymology
Origin of extremely
Explanation
Extremely is a word that emphasizes the intensity of whatever it is you're talking about. If you say you're extremely angry, that word alone tells me I better not mess with you. Extremely comes from the word extreme, which means great, severe, or exceptional. If you climb to extreme heights on a mountain, you've climbed extremely high. Use extremely to let people know that what you're talking about exceeds or goes beyond the norm. A joke that's not just funny, but extremely funny, is one that might have you gasping to catch your breath from laughing so hard.
Vocabulary lists containing extremely
List 3
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List 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly
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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.
"It was extremely difficult. This mound was huge and wide. It collapsed onto the tent, and we didn't know what to do," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Barrot said France had summoned the Iranian ambassador to Paris "to lodge a very strong protest against this extremely grave act".
From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026
“Given what we saw today, we think the probability of either of their programs demonstrating a clear benefit in secondary prevention in patient populations with well-controlled LDL-C is extremely low.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 9, 2026
The catch was that producing these conditions generally required sophisticated equipment capable of cooling matter to temperatures extremely close to absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026
This was one of the main shipping routes between the eastern and western Mediterranean, and it was also an extremely dangerous body of water, filled with shoals, sandbars, and suddenly shifting currents.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
