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strictly

UK/ˈstɹɪktli/US/ˈstɹɪktli/
adverbB22 meaningsVery common — you will meet it every day · #2,367 of 15,258neutral

Strictly means in a way that allows no exceptions. Strictly forbidden, strictly speaking, strictly by appointment.

Strictly forbidden and strictly prohibited are the standard forms on signs. Strictly speaking introduces a precise correction and usually means the speaker is about to be pedantic and right. Strictly between us means in confidence. Note that in Britain Strictly on its own means the television dancing programme, which has made the word instantly recognisable in a way it was not before about 2004.

Definitions of strictly

  1. 1adverbstrictlyIn a way that allows no exceptions.B2

    “Smoking is strictly forbidden anywhere in the hospital.”

  2. 2adverbintroduceUsed to introduce a precise correction.B2

    “Strictly speaking it is a fruit, as somebody always says.”

Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.

strictly is a manner of exactness.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *streyg-

  2. Latin

    strictus

  3. English

    strict

  4. English, today

    strictly

Built from

  • stringere · Latin — to draw tight, bind, contract

From strict + -ly. strict Borrowed from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere (“to draw tight, bind, contract”). a doublet of strait and stretto. See stringent, strain. Related to strong.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Word Building

Practise this word

strictly in the wild

  • IA-64 and x64 builds of Windows Server 2003 as well as Windows Server 2008 and later strictly require ACPI.

    Windows Server 2003

  • Type-safe languages are sometimes also called strongly or strictly typed.

    Type safety

  • Some Hebraists held posts in academies or churches, while others were strictly amateur.

    Hebraist

  • While calling itself an "entertaining" journal, it is not strictly a journal of humor and unserious work.

    The Green Bag (1997)

  • People with a poor understanding of a gluten-free diet often believe that they are strictly following the diet, but are making regular errors.

    Gluten-free diet

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the strictus family

strictlystrict

strictly — used about once every 311 pages · #2,367 · point at the bar for the others