wholly

wholly — adverb

1. in every way possible; to the fullest extent, with nothing left out or missing

1.副詞B2
釋義

in every way possible; to the fullest extent, with nothing left out or missing

例句

Diya was not wholly convinced by the manager's explanation.

not wholly + past participle (partial negation)

Kenji wholly devoted himself to finding a cure for the disease.

wholly + reflexive verb

同義詞
  • completely

    Neutral register; the most common choice for everyday speech and writing

  • entirely

    Slightly more formal than completely, but less formal than wholly; suggests nothing is excluded

  • totally

    Informal register; very common in spoken English and casual writing

  • fully

    Emphasises sufficiency or adequacy rather than absolute completeness; naturally pairs with verbs like understand, support, agree

反義詞
  • partially

    Indicates only part of something, the opposite of wholly

  • incompletely

    Suggests something is unfinished or lacking full coverage

文法句型

wholly + adjective

wholly + past participle

not wholly + adjective / past participle

用法筆記

More formal than completely or totally. Common in legal, academic, and formal written English but less frequent in everyday conversation. Frequently modifies adjectives (wholly different) and past participles (wholly convinced). In negative constructions, not wholly conveys partial negation, meaning 'partially but not fully'.

常見錯誤

❌The project was holy funded by private donations.
✅The project was wholly funded by private donations.
💡Holy and wholly sound similar but have completely different meanings: holy means sacred, wholly means completely.
❌I wholly doubt his story.' (too formal for casual doubt)
✅I completely doubt his story.
💡Wholly sounds overly formal in casual disagreement; use completely or totally instead.
❌The machine is wholly broke.
✅The machine is wholly broken.
💡Wholly modifies adjectives/adverbs, not bare verbs in simple past; use the past participle form.