truly
- 1In a genuine and sincere way; honestly and in fact.
I truly believe this decision will change the company for the better.
Truly, none of us expected the project to finish so quickly.
UsageUsually just before what it backs: I truly believe, I'm truly sorry. Yours truly closes a formal letter.
- 2To a great or extreme degree; thoroughly or very.
The view from the summit was truly breathtaking.
She is a truly talented musician who plays four instruments.
UsageGoes before an adjective, often inside a noun phrase: truly amazing, a truly great writer.
Similarreally, very, extremely, absolutely, utterly
Note
Unlike very, it keeps a trace of the "genuinely" meaning. So truly great can mean "very great" and "great in fact" at once.
- 3Accurately or correctly, so that what is said, shown or done matches the facts or the real state of things.
After forty years in the same town, she could truly say that she knew every family on her street.
He begged her to speak truly about what she had seen that night, even if the answer would hurt him.
UsageMostly with verbs of saying: speak truly, say truly, tell me truly.
Similartruthfully, accurately, faithfully
Oppositefalsely, untruthfully, inaccurately
Note
The oldest strand here is faithfulness: Old English trēowlīċe meant "faithfully; truly," and an account given truly is one that keeps faith with the facts. When Bertrand Russell writes "He adds, very truly, that…", he is granting that a claim is correct. That is a judgment of accuracy, not of feeling. Feeling belongs to the "sincerely" meaning.
Practice
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Origin
Old English trēowlīċe ("faithfully; truly"), which is true + -ly, became Middle English truely. Dutch trouwelijk, German treulich, and Swedish trolig are cognates.