Meaning & use
absolutely
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Meanings
adverb
Completely and without exception; totally and without doubt.
Grammar: Modifies adjectives, adverbs, or verbs; it has no comparative or superlative form.
Patterns
- absolutely essential
- absolutely nothing
- absolutely certain
- absolutely impossible
The museum is absolutely free on the first Sunday of each month.
There is absolutely no reason to panic; the doors are open.
adverbfixed phraseinformal
Used alone to give strong agreement or say an emphatic yes.
Grammar: Often stands alone as a short reply rather than modifying another word.
Patterns
- Absolutely.
- Absolutely not.
- “Can you come?” “Absolutely.”
“Will you support the plan?” “Absolutely.”
She said absolutely not when they asked her to skip the safety check.
Common combinations
- absolutely essential
- A hard hat is absolutely essential inside the workshop.
- absolutely right
- You are absolutely right; the meeting was moved to Friday.
- absolutely no
- There is absolutely no evidence of a leak in the report.
- absolutely certain
- I am not absolutely certain which platform the train leaves from.
Synonyms and how they differ
- completely
- Neutral and very common; less emphatic in speech than absolutely.
- totally
- Close in strength, but more informal and often less formal in writing.
- utterly
- Stronger and often used with negatives or formal judgments.
- definitely
- Better for firm agreement, while absolutely stresses complete degree.
Opposites
Word family
- absolute adjective
- Complete or not limited in any way.
- absoluteness noun
- The quality of being complete or unlimited, used in formal contexts.
- absolutist noun
- A person who holds fixed, uncompromising views.
Commonly confused: absolutely or absolute? absolutely or absolutley?
absolutely vs absolute
Use absolute before a noun or after linking verbs; use absolutely to modify other words or to agree strongly.
absolutely vs absolutley
This is a common misspelling; spell it absolutely, from absolute plus -ly.
Practice
Which option best completes the sentence: “The laboratory result was ___ positive, so the team repeated the test.”
Choose one answer.
Absolutely positive means completely positive and fits the need for certainty. Almost, nearly, and hardly all introduce doubt or incompleteness.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “absolutely”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.