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"
abounding in or given to pompous or aphoristic moralizing; "too often the significant episode deteriorates into sententious conversation"- Kathleen Barnes
make understandable to the general public; "Carl Sagan popularized cosmology in his books"
cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use; "They popularized coffee in Washington State"; "Relativity Theory was vulgarized by these authors"
physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man"
a powerful effect or influence; "the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them"
a group of people having the power of effective action; "he joined forces with a band of adventurers"
group of people willing to obey orders; "a public force is necessary to give security to the rights of citizens"
(physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity; "force equals mass times acceleration"
impose or thrust urgently, importunately, or inexorably; "She forced her diet fads on him"
do forcibly; exert force; "Don't force it!"
force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically; "She rammed her mind into focus"; "He drives me mad"