Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. Completely; entirely: "The old American purposes are still wholly relevant” ( John F. Kennedy).
- adv. Exclusively; solely.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Entirely; completely; perfectly; without reserve.
- Altogether; exclusively; only.
Wiktionary
- adv. completely and entirely; to the fullest extent
- adv. exclusively and solely
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. In a whole or complete manner; entirely; completely; perfectly.
- adv. To the exclusion of other things; totally; fully.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
Etymologies
- From the Middle English word holliche. See also whole and -ly. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“He considered the term wholly wanting in the precision which is desirable in a treaty arrangement, that it was capable of many different degrees of extension, and that the fact of the paramountcy of Great Britain over the new State might be sufficiently established without the use of an ambiguous word which excited the most bitter hostility in the”
“On the other hand, the phrase "wholly devoid of government subsidy" would seem to prohibit the offering of a substantial prize to someone deemed successful at answering DARPA's requirements.”
“A CHEF earned himself a jail sentence when he faced the Townsville Magistrates Court on disqualified and drink-driving charges. was sentenced to three months 'jail, the term wholly suspended for 12 months.”
“Defamation carries a particular legal meaning and application in domestic systems that makes the term wholly unsuitable in the context of religions," says the U.S. government in a response on the issue to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.”
“Homophobia a term wholly misapplied and sexism feed on each other but only inversely.”
“His “Mountain of Light” is a term wholly unknown to the Arabs, except so far as they would assign the term to any saintly place.”
“Caro Craven was a bachelor lady of fifty -- spinster was a term wholly inapplicable to the strong-minded little woman who had been an art student in Paris in the days when insular hands were lifted in horror at the mere idea, and was a designation, moreover, deprecated strongly by herself as an insult to one who stood -- at least in her own sphere -- on an equality with the lords of creation.”
“Arenas, a position on the opposite side of the river San Juan, which was in possession, under a title wholly independent of them, of citizens of the United States interested in the Nicaragua Transit Company, and which was indispensably necessary to the prosperous operation of that route across the Isthmus.”
“If one term wholly includes or excludes another, which wholly or partly includes a third, the first term wholly or partly includes or excludes the third.”
“His "Mountain of Light" is a term wholly unknown to the Arabs, except so far as they would assign the term to any saintly place.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wholly’.
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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EN - eesily missspellable wirds
accessible, accommodate, achievement, acquaintance, address, advertisement, alleged, athletics, attendance, auxiliary, believe, challenge and 118 more...
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September Words-11337
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
flabbergasted, discombobulated, inclination, serendipity, savvy, profound, incarnation, myriad, confiscate, audacity, deciduous, adieu and 79 more...
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Verecund, flivver, etc
Just some words I happen to enjoy. Some thread-worn, some not.
yegg, yob, verecund, amatory, fermata, threepenny, gruntled, flivver, gamboge, decolletage, ordure, nudnik and 175 more...
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snarkout's Words
agenbite, scandent, vulpine, ratel, corvid, magpie, meline, musteline, ecdysiast, waxwing, abecedarian, guillotine and 111 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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Adverbia
A long list of adverbs, beginning with full-drive. Someone had to list them. This list in continued in the list More Adverbia.
Read some sniping and some informative commentary about a...full-drive, portentously, unlawfully, legally, heterogeneously, consumingly, clancularly, inconsolably, prepositionally, retrogressively, symptomatically, decrepitly and 2460 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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Jacqueline's Words
glittery, horny, amazing, wanderlust, forlorn, lustily, nonchalant, cool, passive, submissive, roundabout, carousel and 558 more...
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wh pronounced as h
words that start with wh but pronounced as h (as in hand)
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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MysticGypsy's list
illuminata, ginormous, zephyr, xenagogue, evolution, exploratory, supercalifragilis..., moxie, plethora, sage, transformation, enlightenment and 39 more...
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itzamyeh's Words
quell, shuck, countervailing, mozambique, wiener, pone, calque, pahoehoe, wholly, mantissa, bouffant, phalanx and 14 more...
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Gloriaha's Words
immute, wholly, inure, penchant, halcyon, fusty, smidgeon, ostension, array, amalgam, meliorate, bungle and 64 more...
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rudabeckia's Words
cross, wholly, lobe, sauce, quarrel, horrid, wooly, chutney, cheery, starling, vex, woolen and 67 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for wholly.

Charnell mack The addition of that word "wholly" is where you break from Mitchell(ONLINE DICTIONARY)
Sep 27, 2010