Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. Undoubtedly; definitely: This is certainly not my writing.
- adv. By all means; of course: You may certainly join us.
- adv. Surely: They certainly are hard workers.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- With certainty; without doubt or question; in truth and fact; without fail; inevitably; assuredly; undoubtedly; unquestionably; of a certainty.
Wiktionary
- adv. In a way which is certain; with certainty.
- adv. Without doubt, surely; of course.
- adv. An emphatic affirmative answer.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. Without doubt or question; unquestionably.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. definitely or positively (`sure' is sometimes used informally for `surely')
Etymologies
- certain + -ly (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The R rating should certainly mean there is a lot more to follow that they can't show us in the trailer..certainly should make it a lot edgier.”
First Trailer for Katherine Heigl's The Ugly Truth « FirstShowing.net
“The scientific issues were what initially brought me to this debate, but the religious implications are certainly right there in your face as well...and, both subjects are *certainly* interesting.”
“You are certainly quite right about it, Porfiry began gaily, looking with extraordinary simplicity at Raskolnikov (which startled him and instantly put him on his guard) certainly quite right in laughing so wittily at our legal forms, he-he!”
“We certainly intend,' -- the emphasis here is on the word '_certainly_,' though the reader who has not the key of the times may not perceive it; 'We certainly intend to comprehend them ALL.”
“Getting back to why I say Ma * lied* to the public, listen to what Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) says about an ECFA: --- Promoting the signing of a cross-Strait [sic] ECFA will certainly bring about complete unification of the motherland [sic] --- It will * most certainly* affect Taiwan's sovereignty, and I believe that Mr. Ma knows this very well.”
WN.com - Articles related to Taiwan urges China not to block trade agreements
“And while that might be debatable, the phrase certainly applies to Robert Redford, erstwhile Mr 1970s Box Office and former bedroom poster idol of a generation, now an irredeemably boring director.”
The Guardian: The Conspirator proves that Robert Redford should stick to Sundance
“Ironically, while the title certainly titillates, it's hardly radical.”
The Huffington Post: Buddhist Backlash: Stephen Batchelor Braves The Storm
“The C of the title certainly stands for Carrefax, but also for cyanide, Sophie's poison of choice; cysteine, the amino acid that darkens the spa waters; his father's coils of copper wire; the caul Serge was born under; the air corps where he first snorts cocaine; Morse code; and even the cc of Serge's carbon-copied reports.”
The Washington Post: Tom McCarthy's "C," reviewed by Samantha Hunt
“The name certainly fires the imagination, conjuring up images of Star Trek and other fictional settings in which people, either through fictional science or just plain magic, can instantaneously transport objects from one place to another.”
“Many are outraged and the title certainly is designed to provoke.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘certainly’.
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Awesome Pronunciations
BRING IT ON!!!!!
!, !!, !!!, !!!!, !!!!!, peter piper, licet mihi venera..., aliquid in aere e..., SHAZAM!, dark-sided, vegan quiche...ev..., konstantinopolita... and 113 more...
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exemplifying
above all, chiefly, with attention to, especially, particularly, singularly, primacy, primarily, for instance, in particular, markedly, namely, and 42 more...
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EN - intensifiers
absolutely, acutely, amply, astonishingly, awfully, certainly, considerably, dearly, decidedly, deeply, eminently, emphatically and 32 more...
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The Over-Worked "Very"
Synonyms for the word "very"
absolutely, actually, acutely, amazingly, assuredly, astonishingly, certainly, decidedly, desperately, downright, emphatically, exceedingly and 43 more...
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Of course!
darn tootin', damn straight, duh, fair dinkum, no shit, for sure, seriously, absolutely, no question, i'm sold, certainly, sure as shootin' and 8 more...
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summary
in short, on the whole, as I said, in other words, to be sure, in fact, indeed, clearly, of course, anyway, remarkably, I think and 11 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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favorite words
ennui, bonhomie, eschew, liaison, serendipity, lovely, dusk, kitten, epitome, sexy, beloved, darling and 396 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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Boosting Words
Boosters in academic language, from Ken Hyland in Appendix 3 of Disciplinary Discourses (2000; Harlow, Essex:
Pearson)we know, we think, actually, always, apparent, beyond doubt, certain that, certainly, certainty, clearly, conclusively, decidedly and 30 more...
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Victorian female english
Use this words and become a young lady from some of Jane Austen's books.
coquettish, acquaintance, agreeable, delightful, entirely, sweetest, particularly, pretty, indeed, dearest, pleasant, marriage and 58 more...
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Obviously!
Adverbs to make it perfectly clear that what I'm talking about is 100% correct, beyond the shadow of a doubt, no debate required thankyouverymuch. If you can't see that, you need to get your head e...
obviously, clearly, plainly, undeniably, simply, unquestionably, certainly, indubitably, expectedly, unsurprisingly, definitely, glaringly and 31 more...
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just saying
yeah, alas, aargh, bah, because, boo, certainly, damn, geez, grrr, hey, lame and 34 more...
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Words I suspect myself of overusing
amazing, intrinsic, incredibly, fascinating, totally, completely, definitely, fantastic, absolutely, remotely, really, hitherto and 16 more...
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HGard's Words
elucidate, episiotomy, aggro, slurpee, sack of potatoes, prolific, itsy bitsy, armageddon, really, certainly, surely, maybe and 28 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for certainly.

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