Contextualizebeta

possibly

adv
/ˈpɒs.ə.bli/UK/ˈpɒs.ɪ.bli//ˈpɑ.sɪ.bli/US/ˈpɒs.ə.bli/CA

Etymology

From possible + -ly.

  1. derived from possibilis
  2. derived from possible
  3. inherited from possible
  4. formed as possibly — “possible + -ly”

Definitions

  1. Perhaps

    Perhaps; indicates that the proposition may be true (is not certainly false) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker.

    • Near-synonyms: maybe, perhaps, mayhap, mayhaps, by chance, perchance, peradventure; conceivably
    • Possibly, they will make gains in the midterm elections.
    • It was possibly the costliest mistake in the organization's history.

  2. In the realm of possibility

    In the realm of possibility; indicates that the action may successfully be performed (is not impossible) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker that might limit the performance.

    • I'm much stronger than you, so you can't possibly win.
    • I couldn't possibly be there on time.
    • I couldn't possibly cheat on my wife.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for possibly. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA