Decidedly

How to spell decidedly

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce decidedly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does decidedly mean?

1. adverbIn a way that is clear, definite, and beyond question.

Decidedly in a sentence

• The second flat was decidedly better value than the first.

• His tone at the meeting was decidedly cooler after the budget cuts.

Where does decidedly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word ultimately traces to the Latin verb decidere, which literally meant 'to cut off' and was built from de- 'off, away' and caedere 'to cut'. From the image of cutting through a tangle to settle a matter, the Latin word came to mean 'to determine' or 'to resolve'. English borrowed the verb 'decide' through Old French in the fourteenth century, keeping that sense of reaching a firm conclusion. The adjective 'decided' developed to describe something clear-cut and beyond doubt, and adding the adverb-forming '-ly' gave 'decidedly' by the eighteenth century, meaning 'unmistakably' or 'definitely'. The buried '-ed-' is the usual spelling trap: writers hear a single smooth run of sounds and can drop the middle, but it is simply 'decided' with '-ly' attached.

How the word is built

• de- (off, down)
• cid- (from Latin caedere: to cut)
• -ed (participle suffix)
• -ly (adverb suffix)