# strictly

Pronunciation: say "STRIKT-lee" /ˈstɹɪktli/

## Adverb

1. In a way that follows rules or standards firmly and without allowing exceptions.
   - Simple: In a way that follows the rules closely, with no exceptions allowed.
   - _The teacher strictly enforced the no-phone policy during the exam._
   - _Visitors are strictly forbidden from feeding the animals in the reserve._
2. In a limited way, restricted to one thing only and nothing beyond it.
   - Simple: Only, and limited to a single thing or purpose.
   - _This lounge is strictly for first-class passengers._
   - _The meeting was strictly about the budget, with no other topics raised._
3. In the exact, narrow sense of a term, without any looser or broader interpretation.
   - Simple: In an exact, narrow meaning, without a looser or wider sense.
   - _Strictly, a whale is not a fish, despite spending its life in the sea._
   - _A peanut is not strictly a nut; it grows underground like a legume._
4. In mathematics, in a way that rules out equality, so that a relation such as 'increasing' holds with strict inequality throughout a set or interval.
   - Simple: In math, in a way that holds for every part, never staying equal or level.
   - _The function is strictly increasing across its entire domain._
   - _A sequence that is strictly decreasing never repeats any of its values._

## Origin

Formed from the word "strict" combined with the suffix "-ly".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/strictly (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).