Wholeheartedly

How to spell wholeheartedly

14 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce wholeheartedly

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does wholeheartedly mean?

1. adverbWith complete sincerity, enthusiasm, and commitment, holding nothing back.

Wholeheartedly in a sentence

• The committee wholeheartedly endorsed the new safety policy.

• She threw herself wholeheartedly into the renovation project.

Where does wholeheartedly come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This adverb is built from two of the oldest words in English. 'Whole' descends from the Old English hal, which meant healthy, sound, or uninjured, the same root that gives us 'hale', 'heal', and 'health'; the silent 'w' at the front was added by scribes only in the 1400s and 1500s, and it is precisely that decorative, unpronounced letter that trips writers today. 'Heart' comes from the Old English heorte, long used not just for the organ but for the seat of courage, love, and conviction. The two were joined to form the adjective 'wholehearted', meaning marked by complete sincerity and commitment, which appears from around the 1500s. The adverb 'wholeheartedly' then follows naturally with the standard -ly ending, describing an action done with one's entire heart and no reservation.

How the word is built

• whole (complete, entire)
• heart (the seat of feeling)
• -ed (adjective-forming)
• -ly (adverb-forming)