in reality or actuality; "in fact, it was a wonder anyone survived"; "painters who are in fact anything but unsophisticated"; "as a matter of fact, he is several inches taller than his father"
used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly; "you may actually be doing the right thing by walking out"; "she actually spoke Latin"; "they thought they made the rules but in reality they were only puppets"; "people who seem stand-offish are in reality often simply nervous"
in actual fact; "to be nominally but not actually independent"; "no one actually saw the shark"; "large meteorites actually come from the asteroid belt"
as a sentence modifier to add slight emphasis; "actually, we all help clear up after a meal"; "actually, I haven't seen the film"; "I'm not all that surprised actually"; "she hasn't proved to be too satisfactory, actually"
at the present moment; "the transmission screen shows the picture that is actually on the air"
unmistakably (`plain' is often used informally for `plainly'); "the answer is obviously wrong"; "she was in bed and evidently in great pain"; "he was manifestly too important to leave off the guest list"; "it is all patently nonsense"; "she has apparently been living here for some time"; "I thought he owned the property, but apparently not"; "You are plainly wrong"; "he is plain stubborn"
with firmness and conviction; without compromise; "he stood foursquare for religious liberty and toleration"- C.G.Bowers; "dealt straightforwardly with all issues"
firmly and solidly; "hit the ball squarely"; "the bat met the ball squarely"; "planted his great bulk square before his enemy"
in a square shape; "a squarely cut piece of paper"; "folded the sheet of paper square"
directly and without evasion; not roundabout; "to face a problem squarely"; "the responsibility lies squarely with them"; "spoke forthright (or forthrightly) and to the point"
in a straight direct way; "looked him squarely in the eye"; "ran square into me"