definitely

English

Etymology

From definite +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛf.ɪ.nɪt.li/, /ˈdɛf.ə.nɪt.li/, /ˈdɛf.nɪt.li/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

definitely (comparative more definitely, superlative most definitely)

1. Without question and beyond doubt.

   Joe definitely doesn't know how to drive a tractor.

   She said she wasn't coming, definitely.

2. In a definite manner; decisively.
   • 1912, Joseph Conrad, “Chapter IV”, in A Personal Record:

     It was really impossible on board that ship to get away definitely from Almayer

   • 1916, Nikolai Gogol, translated by Claud Field, The Nose, published 1836:

     And the Nose definitely turned away.

   • 2003, Herbert Mitgang, Once Upon a Time in New York, page 187:

     And these Elders were men of good standing in that community, and they swore definitely before the counsel that this lady committed this impropriety, and there was nobody to gainsay that, except the lady herself, […]

Synonyms

• positively

 

Translations

without question and beyond doubt

• Arabic: بِالتَّأْكِيد (bi-t-taʔkīd)
• Belarusian: пэ́ўна (péŭna), напэ́ўна (napéŭna)
• Bulgarian: със сигурност (sǎs sigurnost)
• Catalan: definitivament (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 肯定 (zh) (kěndìng), 定然 (zh) (dìngrán)

• Czech: rozhodně (cs), určitě (cs)
• Dutch: zeker (nl), zeker weten, zonder twijfel
• Esperanto: nepre (eo), certe (eo)
• Finnish: ehdottomasti (fi), varmasti (fi)
• French: décidément (fr), certainement (fr), sans conteste (fr), assurément (fr)
• Galician: definitivamente
• Georgian: უეჭველად (ueč̣velad), ნამდვილად (namdvilad)
• German: definitiv (de), bestimmt (de), sicher (de)
• Hebrew: בהחלט
• Hungarian: biztosan (hu), feltétlenül (hu), kétségkívül (hu), kétségtelenül (hu), okvetlenül (hu), bizonyosan (hu), minden bizonnyal (hu)
• Icelandic: örugglega
• Italian: indubbiamente (it), non ci piove
• Japanese: 確かに (たしかに, tashika ni), きっと (ja) (kitto), 必ず (ja) (かならず, kanarazu)
• Korean: 명확히 (ko) (myeonghwakhi), 반드시 (ko) (bandeusi), 확실히 (ko) (hwaksilhi)
• Latvian: noteikti (lv)
• Macedonian: определено (opredeleno), несомнено (nesomneno), дефинитивно (definitivno)
• Malay: pasti (ms)
• Norwegian: definitivt, utvilsomt n
• Persian: حتماً (fa) (hatman)
• Polish: na pewno (pl), zdecydowanie (pl)
• Portuguese: definitivamente (pt)
• Russian: определённо (ru) (opredeljónno), несомне́нно (ru) (nesomnénno), наверняка́ (ru) (navernjaká)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дефинитивно

  Roman: definitivno (sh)

• Slovene: definitivno, zagotovo, nedvomno
• Spanish: definitivamente (es), indudablemente (es)
• Swedish: definitivt (sv)
• Turkish: kesinlikle (tr)
• Ukrainian: напе́вно (napévno)

in a definite manner

• Catalan: decididament (ca)
• Finnish: päättäväisesti (fi)
• French: décidément (fr), (dated) assurément (fr)
• Hungarian: határozottan (hu)
• Italian: decisamente (it)

An emphatic affirmative answer; of course

• Hungarian: hogyne (hu), persze (hu), természetesen (hu)
• Italian: non ci piove, certamente (it)
• Maori: āpāia

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} გარკვევით (garḳvevit)

See also

• definitively
• absolutely