specifically
Americanadverb
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in a definite or precise manner.
The suspect was not specifically named in the report. More specifically, you will be responsible for half the total cost.
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with an exact use or purpose in mind.
The manual is written specifically for nonexperts.
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with reference to qualities that are peculiar or proper to someone or something.
Our classes are specifically different from other yoga programs.
Etymology
Origin of specifically
First recorded in 1620–25; specific ( def. ) + -ly ( def. )
Explanation
Specifically means particularly, or regarding one option out of several. You specifically requested that your birthday cake be chocolate with raspberry icing, so you were quite disappointed with the vanilla cake you were served instead. The adverb specifically comes from the Latin specificus, and shares a root with special and species. If you specifically choose something, you have made a special choice about it. If you single something out specifically, it's particularly significant. A documentary about this history of childhood might have been a real eye-opener, specifically the part about how kids used to go to work at 12 or younger.
Vocabulary lists containing specifically
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl
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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.
Harvard’s coach has broken the last seconds of a football game down into a precise science, building a special playbook designed specifically to move the ball a long way when time is running short.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The findings, published in PeerJ, reveal that the wasps are moving into structures that evolved specifically to shelter protective ant colonies.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
They include former US defence officials and contractors who have worked closely with the Pentagon specifically on AI.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
But even as a kid, I suspected on some level that this tape wasn’t really for me specifically.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
The Space Race began soon after the Allies won World War II. America and the former Soviet Union inherited and made use of German technology, specifically rocket technology.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
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.
