Really
WordNet
adverb
(1) Used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal
"She was very gifted"
"He played very well"
"A really enjoyable evening"
"I'm real sorry about it"
"A rattling good yarn"
(2) In accordance with truth or fact or reality
"She was now truly American"
"A genuinely open society"
"They don't really listen to us"
(3) In fact (used as intensifiers or sentence modifiers)
"In truth, moral decay hastened the decline of the Roman Empire"
"Really, you shouldn't have done it"
"A truly awful book"
(4) In actual fact
"To be nominally but not actually independent"
"No one actually saw the shark"
"Large meteorites actually come from the asteroid belt"
WiktionaryText
Adverb
- Actually; in fact; in reality.
- He really is a true friend.
- Very (modifying an adjective); very much (modifying a verb).
- But ma, I really, really want to go to the show!
Usage notes
- Like its synonyms, really is, in practice, often used to preface an opinion, rather than a fact. (See also usage notes for actually.)
- Increasingly people are recognising what's really important is having children.
Interjection
- Indicating surprise at, or requesting confirmation of, some new information; to express skepticism.
- A: He won the Nobel Prize yesterday.
- B: Really?
- Indicating affirmation, agreement.
- A: That girl talks about herself way too much.
- B: Really. She's a nightmare.
- Indicating displeasure at another person's behaviour or disdain for a trite or mundane statement.
- Well, really! How rude.