Strictly

How to spell strictly

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce strictly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does strictly mean?

1. adverbIn a way that is rigidly controlled, exact, or allows no exception.

Strictly in a sentence

• The office is strictly non-smoking, and the rule is enforced everywhere.

• Strictly speaking, the deadline was midnight, so the late entry was rejected.

Where does strictly come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin strictus, the past participle of stringere, a verb that literally meant 'to draw tight, bind, or compress'. The adjective strict reached English through Old French in the late fourteen hundreds, carrying the sense of something tightly controlled or rigorously enforced, and the adverb strictly followed naturally by adding the native English ending -ly. The same Latin root sits behind a surprising family of relatives, including 'stringent', 'restrict', and even 'stress', all of which keep that core idea of tightness or pressure. Over time strictly broadened from the physical notion of binding tightly to the figurative meaning of doing something exactly, rigidly, or without exception. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the -ctl- cluster packs four consonants together, and the silent run of letters can tempt writers to drop one, so remembering the base word strict keeps the spelling honest.

How the word is built

• strict (from Latin strictus: drawn tight)
• -ly (adverb suffix)