basically
/ˈbeɪ.sɪk.(ə.)li/adverb
basically is spelled B-A-S-I-C-A-L-L-Y. The wrong spelling people search most is basicly: about 170 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Basically is an adverb meaning “In a fundamental, essential or basic manner”.
How many letters and syllables are in basically?
| Letters | 9: B-A-S-I-C-A-L-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 43 times per million words; the 2,339th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 5; the most searched, basicly, about 170 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 basically?
Basically is spelled B-A-S-I-C-A-L-L-Y. 5 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for basically 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 basically?
Basically appears 43 times per million words in written English, the 2,339th 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 basically?
- US /ˈbeɪ.sɪk.(ə.)li/
- /ˈbeɪ.sɪk.koʊ.li/
Basically has 3 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-basically.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of basically
- more basically comparative
- most basically superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does basically mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
In a fundamental, essential or basic manner.
They've added some fancy features, but it's basically still a crappy car.
- 2
Essentially; mostly; pretty much.
- 3
Used to refer to the most important or fundamental point that the speaker is making or to indicate a generalization or simplification; sometimes tending towards a meaningless filler word.
I shouldn't have done it, basically.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate basically?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of basically: baso.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Basically in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in a fundamental or basic manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | foncièrement, sommairement, à la base |
| German | im Prinzip |
| Portuguese | basicamente |
| Spanish | básicamente |
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.