fundamentally

[fuhn-duh-men-tl-ee]

adverb

1. in a fundamental and essential way; centrally and foundationally.

   a nine-point plan that will fundamentally transform our system of eldercare.

2. as regards the basic nature, character, or truth of something; basically and often emphatically.

   Fundamentally, they just want their independence.

Other Word Forms

• nonfundamentally adverb
• unfundamentally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of fundamentally¹

First recorded in 1600–20; fundamental ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

Example Sentences

For its real-world operations, though, Heart is adopting a fundamentally different design: a hybrid plane, powered by batteries, but carrying fuel as backup.

From BBC

To suggest otherwise "fundamentally misrepresents" the education landscape and the dedication of workers, it added.

From BBC

The administration’s unprecedented interventions in private industry, including taking equity stakes in companies like Intel, fundamentally alter the government’s relationship with business.

From Los Angeles Times

Current eugenics rhetoric is, like its forebear, fundamentally incoherent.

From Los Angeles Times

As one SSA official put it, Bisignano is “doing all the same fundamentally inefficient things, more efficiently.”

From Salon