Criminally

How to spell criminally

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce criminally

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does criminally mean?

1. adverbIn a way that involves or constitutes a crime, or under the system of criminal law.
2. adverbTo a degree that seems so excessive it is almost an offence; informally, extremely.

Criminally in a sentence

• The company was found criminally liable for dumping waste in the river.

• The band remains criminally underrated despite years of brilliant albums.

• Prosecutors decided to pursue the matter criminally rather than in a civil court.

• That little café serves criminally good pastries for the price.

Where does criminally come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This adverb traces back to the Latin noun crimen, which originally meant a 'charge' or 'accusation' brought against someone, and only later shifted toward the modern sense of the wrongful act itself. From crimen the Romans formed the adjective criminalis, 'relating to a crime or accusation', and English took this up through Old French in the late medieval period as 'criminal'. The adverb 'criminally' was then built on home soil by adding the native English ending -ly, which turns an adjective into an adverb of manner. The same crimen root sits inside relatives such as 'incriminate' and 'recriminate', and even the word 'discriminate', which once simply meant to distinguish. The spelling trap worth noting is the join at the end: the adjective 'criminal' already ends in a single l, so adding -ly produces the doubled -lly, giving criminally rather than the tempting single-l misspelling.

How the word is built

• crimin- (from Latin crimen: charge, offence)
• -al (adjective suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)