substantially

American  

[suhb-stan-shuh-lee] / səbˈstæn ʃə li /

adverb

1. by an ample or considerable amount; quite a lot.

   As a professor, my workload is substantially reduced or eliminated during the summer months.

2. in a basic or essential way; fundamentally.

   The new law mandates equal pay for substantially similar work, whether at the same establishment or not.

3. in a solid or firm way; stoutly or sturdily.

   In the far north, homes take more fuel to heat and also have to be built more substantially.

4. in a corporeal or material way; physically.

   The Eucharist makes the very Person of Christ truly, really, and substantially present in the consecrated bread and wine.

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Other Word Forms

• nonsubstantially adverb
• supersubstantially adverb

Etymology

Origin of substantially

substantial ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

A Yale University working paper later found that without what it labeled the “Musk effect,” Tesla’s sales would have been substantially higher.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

"Overall, our results showed that multidimensional joint encoding substantially increased the information carried by a single holographic data page, thereby improving storage capacity," said Tan.

From Science Daily • Mar. 29, 2026

That included the $55 billion purchase of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019 that substantially increased Occidental’s U.S. production, boosting its exposure in the desirable Permian basin region of Texas.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

"Wherever dogs were first domesticated, they had already reached Europe by at least 14,000 years ago and they go on to contribute quite substantially to the dogs we see today," Bergström told me.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

I was able at last to thatch our hut again, substantially, with two or three bindings of leaves.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

• considerably
• essentially
• extensively
• heavily
• largely
• materially
• really