Completely

How to spell completely

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce completely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does completely mean?

1. adverbTo the fullest extent; totally and without anything missing.

Completely in a sentence

• The new manager completely changed how the team reports its hours.

• After the long flight she was completely exhausted.

Where does completely come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb complere, meaning 'to fill up' or 'to finish', formed from the intensifying prefix com- and the root plere, 'to fill', the same root that lies behind 'plenty' and 'replenish'. The past participle completus gave the sense of something that had been fully filled or rounded off, and from it came the adjective 'complete', borrowed into English through Old French complet in the late 1300s. The adverb 'completely' was then built in English by adding the familiar -ly ending to the adjective, and it has carried the meaning 'in every part, totally' ever since. The spelling trap is purely mechanical: writers keep the silent final -e of 'complete' and simply attach -ly, which is why the word has the doubled cluster -tely rather than the -tly that some people wrongly expect.

How the word is built

• com- (intensive, fully)
• plet (from Latin plere: to fill)
• -ly (adverb suffix)