absolutely

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˌæb.səˈlut.li/ UK /ˈæb.səˌl(j)uːt.li/ See IPA manual

Freq #682

Meanings

1

adv
completely and totally

I am absolutely certain that I locked the door.
2

interj
yes, certainly; used to show strong agreement

"Is Bob a good teacher?" "Absolutely!"

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · completely and totally completely totally utterly

Word family

Derived forms absativelyabsitivelyabsobloodylutelyabsofreakinglutelyabsofreakinlutelyabsofuckinglutelyabsotivelyposilutelypositutelyposolutely

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

absolutely magnificent
extremely impressive or beautiful

Adverb + adjective
absolutely stunning
remarkably beautiful or impressive

Adverb + adjective
absolutely necessary
essential, with no practical possibility of doing without it

Adverb + adjective
absolutely livid
furiously angry to an extreme degree

Adverb + adjective

Proverbs (1)

See all

Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely

Etymology

From late Middle English absolutly, equivalent to absolute + -ly. First attested in 1425.

absolutly Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# absolutely

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adv, interj
**IPA (US):** /ˌæb.səˈlut.li/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈæb.səˌl(j)uːt.li/
**Frequency rank:** 682

## Meanings
1. completely and totally
2. yes, certainly; used to show strong agreement

## Examples
- I am absolutely certain that I locked the door.
- "Is Bob a good teacher?" "Absolutely!"

## Derived Forms
- absatively
- absitively
- absobloodylutely
- absofreakinglutely
- absofreakinlutely
- absofuckinglutely
- absotively
- posilutely
- positutely
- posolutely

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: absolutly

## Etymology
From late Middle English absolutly, equivalent to absolute + -ly. First attested in 1425.

## AI Etymology
Absolutely is from late Middle English absolutly, equivalent to absolute plus -ly. First attested in 1425. The suffix -ly recasts equivalent to absolute as an adverb: the lexical idea remains recognizable, but the word now describes manner, degree, or circumstance rather than naming the quality by itself. In use as an adverb and an interjection, absolutely denotes completely and totally and yes, certainly; used to show strong agreement. The same word family continues in derived forms such as absatively, absitively, absobloodylutely, and absofreakinglutely.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown