usually
Americanadverb
adverb
Related Words
See often.
Etymology
Origin of usually
First recorded in 1450–1500; late Middle English; usual ( def. ) + -ly
Explanation
If you usually do something, that’s what you do on a normal day. Tonight you might be making a seven-course meal to celebrate your birthday, even though usually you just get take-out pizza. Usual comes from the word use, and implies "the most common use." A screwdriver usually drives screws into something, or takes them out. Unusually, you have strung your screwdriver on a chain and are wearing it as a necklace. You can also say usually to describe the normal state of things: "On New Year’s Eve, this usually quiet street erupts with noise."
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.
But the area where the drum circle usually takes place is still not finished.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
Autopsies ordered by coroners are usually done as part of investigations into an unexpected or unusual death as well as deaths in custody.
From BBC • May 19, 2026
Food prices are also on the rise, reflecting the higher costs of energy and fertilizers that rely on chemicals usually transported through the strait.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
However, when these systems need to perform nonlinear activation steps, such as decision-making operations, they usually must convert light signals back into electronic ones.
From Science Daily • May 19, 2026
Mom and Dad didn’t usually cave in to Katherine like that.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
