adverb
- as an actual or existing fact; really.
adverb
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- as an actual fact; really
- (as sentence modifier)actually, I haven’t seen him
- at present
- informal a parenthetic filler used to add slight emphasisI don’t know, actually
early 15c., “in fact, in reality” (as opposed to in possibility), from actual + -ly (2). Meaning “actively, vigorously” is from mid-15c.; that of “at this time, at present” is from 1660s. As an intensive added to a statement and suggesting “as a matter of fact, really, in truth” it is attested from 1762.