actually

From Middle English actualy, actuelly, equivalent to actual +‎ -ly.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈak.t͡ʃ(ʊ.)(ə.)li/, /ˈak.ʃ(ʊ.)(ə.)li/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /ˈak.t͡ʃʊ.ə.lɪ/, /ˈak.tjʊ.ə.lɪ/
  • (UK, nonstandard) IPA^(key): /ˈat͡ʃ.u.li/, /ˈat͡ʃ.ə.li/, /ˈat͡ʃ.li/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.t͡ʃ(u.)(ə.)li/, /ˈæk.ʃ(u.)(ə.)li/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ækt͡ʃʊəli

actually (not comparable)

1. (modal) In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.

   His promises did not correspond with what he actually did.

2. (obsolete) Actively.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC:

     Neither actually […] nor passively.

3. (obsolete) Currently; at the time.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     At the time whereof we are writing, though the Great George was on the throne and ladies wore gigots and large combs like tortoise-shell shovels in their hair, instead of the simple sleeves and lovely wreaths which are actually in fashion, the manners of the very polite world were not, I take it, essentially different from those of the present day: and their amusements pretty similar.

• In other European languages, cognates of actually mean "now" or "currently"; (e.g., Portuguese "atualmente", Spanish "actualmente", French "actuellement", German "aktuell", Italian "attualmente", Czech "aktuálně"), making it a false friend. This leads many non-native speakers of English to use "actually" when they mean "now" or "currently".
• Some commentators have:
  1. remarked upon the irony that this qualifier of veracity often introduces an utter lie;[1] and,
  2. noted that in many cases, actually functions as little more than a vacuous emphatic utterance.[2]
• In practice, actually and its synonyms are often used to insinuate that the following is either unusual or contrary to a norm or preceding assumption, or to merely preface an overconfident opinion contrasting a previous statement or norm (as per 'vacuous emphasis' note above).

This is actually a really beautiful song. (contrasting opinion)

Actually, I'm not from France – I'm from Switzerland. (contrary from assumption)

At the check-out, the cashier actually greeted me for once. (contrary from norm)

• actially (nonstandard)
• ackshually, ackshully, akshully, ackshly, akshly (eye dialect)

• (in act or in fact): as a matter of fact, in reality, literally, really, truthfully; see also Thesaurus:actually

actually

1. Alternative form of actualy

actually

1. actually

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.