profoundly
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of profoundly
Explanation
If you’re profoundly moved by the last chapter of that novel you’re reading, then you’re extremely moved — you feel it deep in your soul. The adverb profoundly means something similar to “extremely,” with the additional sense that it’s something intense and deeply felt. If you’re profoundly confused, you’re very confused — confused in a way that seems bottomless. The word can also describe something that affects you greatly. If you’re profoundly influenced by the works of Shakespeare, that means his writing shaped the whole way you think about writing, whether you're working on plays, limericks, love letters.
Vocabulary lists containing profoundly
Tuck Everlasting
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The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
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"The Latehomecomer" by Kao Kalia Yang
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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.
On March 26, 2020, while Steve was still recovering from being profoundly ill with COVID, I arrived at his doorstep at 6 a.m. and proclaimed, “I’m not leaving here without you.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
I spent the next three hours profoundly lost.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026
EMR's managing director Will Rogers called it "a profoundly sad day for the railway community".
From Barron's • Jun. 20, 2026
She added that those affected would "get the apology that you so profoundly deserve".
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026
“Then,” said Mrs. Buckminster, standing tall and straight, and the blood reddening her cheeks, “then the profound Mr. Stonecrop will be profoundly disappointed.”
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
