actually
/ˈæk(t)ʃᵿli/adverb, interjection
actually is spelled A-C-T-U-A-L-L-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is actully: about 100 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 39 of all searches for the word. Actually is an adverb meaning “In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively”.
How many letters and syllables are in actually?
| Letters | 8: A-C-T-U-A-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 309 times per million words; the 306th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 9; the most searched, actully, about 100 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell actually?
Actually is spelled A-C-T-U-A-L-L-Y. 9 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 11 of the searches for actually in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is actually?
Actually appears 309 times per million words in written English, the 306th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce actually?
- UK /ˈæk(t)ʃᵿli/
- UK /ˈæk(t)ʃʊəli/
- UK /ˈæt͡ʃ.u.li/
Actually has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-actually.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of actually
- actially
- ackshually
- ackshully
- akshually
- akshully
- ackshly
- akshly
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does actually mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively.
His promises did not correspond with what he actually did.
- 2
obsoleteActively.
- 3
Currently; at the time.
interjection
- 1
informalIndicating affirmation, agreement.
A: That was a pretty good movie.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate actually?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of actually: acc, act.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Actually in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense In act or in fact; really; in truth; positively:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | en fait, effectivement |
| German | eigentlich, tatsächlich, in Wirklichkeit, in Wahrheit, wirklich |
| Portuguese | na verdade, na realidade |
| Spanish | contrario a/de lo que se anticiparía, en puridad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does actually come from?
From Middle English actually, actuelly, equivalent to actual + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).