systematically
Americanadverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of systematically
First recorded in 1640–50; systematic ( def. ) + -ally ( def. )
Explanation
If you do something systematically, you do it in an orderly, methodical way. Someone who systematically records her dreams is careful to write them in a notebook every single morning. Use the adverb systematically when you describe something that's carried out in a deliberate way, especially following a plan. You might systematically memorize every word in the dictionary, starting with A and working your way through the alphabet, or watch a toddler systematically pick up one Cheerio at a time from his bowl and throw it on the floor. Systematically and systematic come from a Greek root, systematikos, or "combined in a whole."
Vocabulary lists containing systematically
Hard Times
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ly
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South of Somewhere
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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.
The meeting will discuss findings from the national policy report Systematically Excluded and Ignored, which reveals how women have been consistently underserved in the UK's HIV response, organisers said.
From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025
Systematically, they belong to Polyneoptera, which is important for understanding the evolution of insects.
From Science Daily • Mar. 21, 2024
Systematically, Haynes ramped up Bilott’s tension: his blinking eyes, his twitching hands, his juddering feet, his fumbling for the chair, and his flailing spasms on the floor.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 4, 2019
Systematically learning from comparisons is the purpose of a global collaborative effort I lead at Harvard University, The Global Education Innovation Initiative.
From US News • Jul. 8, 2016
Systematically, in her kind, concerned voice she conjured up the macabre future in store for them.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
