socially

American

[soh-shuh-lee] / ˈsoʊ ʃə li /

adverb

in the friendly company of others; in a genial or gregarious manner.

We met through mutual friends who gather socially several times a month.
in a manner that relates to human society and its configuration as a community.

Her art strives to be both beautifully evocative and socially responsible.
in a manner that relates to the division of human society into classes according to status.

Socially and economically, these children are repressed by disadvantages we cannot imagine.
with attention or regard to rules about behavior.

In my day, carousing on a Sunday was socially unacceptable.

Other Word Forms

nonsocially adverb
unsocially adverb

Etymology

Origin of socially

First recorded in 1610–30; social ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )

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.

Gladiatorial culture developed with the rise of what were known as games, or those events put on by elite Romans for plebeians and others socially beneath them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

VS and Singh come from different layers of India's vast middle class and they are socially and economically different.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

Beyond that, the world has vastly changed: politically, socially, culturally.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

In such a socially competitive and professionally rapacious city, having a dinner party is intimidating, too much work, and very few people, even with boatloads of cash, end up hosting one.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

And it wasn’t like she had a variety of wardrobe options anyway if for some reason her jeans and hoodie were socially unacceptable.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

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