entirely

Entirely is an adverb meaning “to a complete extent; wholly; fully.” It signals that something is complete or total in degree, scope, or nature. It typically modifies adjectives or participles, and less often verbs, to express fullness: “The sculpture is entirely convincing,” “The policy is entirely new,” “The plan was entirely different from before.” It also appears in negative constructions: “The evidence is not entirely persuasive.”

Usage notes: It is relatively formal and neutral compared with synonyms such as completely or totally; the choice can affect tone. Common collocations include entirely possible, entirely different, entirely satisfied, entirely by coincidence, entirely new. It can be used with not-phrases to indicate partiality: “not entirely sure,” “not entirely clear.”

Etymology: Entirely derives from Middle English entiere, from Old French entier, from Latin integer meaning whole. Related forms include entirety, a noun referring to the whole amount, and the phrase in its entirety meaning “as a whole.”