Genuinely

Genuinely is an adverb used to express authenticity, sincerity, or realness. It modifies actions, emotions, or claims to indicate that something is truly as stated or felt, not merely exaggerated or pretended. In everyday language it often serves to strengthen a statement about honesty or quality, as in “She was genuinely excited about the project” or “The painting is genuinely handmade.”

Etymology traces genuinely to the adjective genuine. Genuine comes from Old French genuin, from Latin genuinus meaning natural, true, or proper; the sense of authenticity developed over centuries in English usage.

Usage and nuance: genuinely tends to emphasize the honesty or veracity behind a claim or feeling rather than mere intensity. It can distinguish between something that is truly authentic and something that is only superficially so. It is common across formal and informal registers, though it carries a slightly more precise sense of sincerity than words like really or truly in some contexts.

Collocations and examples: common pairs include genuinely interested, genuinely sorry, genuinely handmade, and genuinely beneficial. Some writers replace it with alternatives such as sincerely or authentically when precision matters, but genuinely remains a standard, widely understood option for signaling realness.

Related forms: genuine is the basic adjective meaning authentic or legitimate, and genuineness is the corresponding noun. The adverbial form is genuinely, formed by adding the -ly suffix to genuine.