Dictionary
Thesaurus
Medical
Scrabble®
Spanish Central
Browse DictionaryBrowse Thesaurus
Get our free apps!iPhone•iPad•Android
Games
Word of the Day
Video
Blog: Words at Play
My Faves
Dictionary

wholly

adverb whol·ly \ˈhō(l)-lē\

: completely or fully

Full Definition of WHOLLY

1
:  to the full or entire extent :  completely <a wholly owned subsidiary>
2
:  to the exclusion of other things :  solely <a book dealing wholly with herbs>
See wholly defined for English-language learners
See wholly defined for kids
ADVERTISEMENT

Origin of WHOLLY

Middle English hoolly, from hool whole
First Known Use: 14th century

Related to WHOLLY

Synonyms
all, all of, all over, altogether, clean, completely, dead, enough, entire, entirely, even, exactly, fast, flat, full, heartily, out, perfectly, plumb [chiefly dialect], quite, soundly, thoroughly, through and through, totally, utterly, well, fully, wide
Antonyms
half, halfway, incompletely, part, partially, partly
WHOLLY Defined for Kids

wholly

adverb whol·ly \ˈhō-lē\

Definition of WHOLLY for Kids

:  to the limit :  completely <a wholly honest person>

Learn More About WHOLLY

Browse

Next Word in the Dictionary: whomPrevious Word in the Dictionary: wholisticAll Words Near: wholly
ADVERTISEMENT
10 Charming Words for Nasty People
Put-downs with flair
Learn More
When "Literally" isn't, well, literal
How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.
Watch Now
Know what this is?
Test your vocab with our fun, fast game
Go Play
Fear of cats?
Ailurophobia, and 9 other unusual fears
Learn More
Join Us
Merriam-Webster
on Facebook
Merriam-Webster
on Twitter
Bookstore: Digital and Print
Merriam-Webster references for Mobile, Kindle, print, and more.
See All
Other Merriam-Webster Dictionaries