See Also:

exactly (iou)



exactly adverb. M16.
[from EXACT adjective + -LY2.]
To a perfect degree; completely. M16-E18.
With careful attention to detail or conformity to rule; meticulously. Now rare. M16.
H. Martineau He paid for his lodging exactly and regularly.
Accurately, precisely; without discrepancy, vagueness, or uncertainty. M17.
H. James It is exactly three months to a day since I left Northampton. M. Sinclair She didn't know what it was exactly. T. Stoppard What exactly do you do in there? Scott Fitzgerald Exactly what it was she did not know. M. Sinclair He behaved exactly as if he had expected her. B. Spock At exactly 6 a.m., .. no earlier, no later.
b. As a comment on a statement or a reply to a question: just so; I entirely agree. colloq. M19.
c. Used with expressed or implied neg. when the statement denied is replaced by another of similar effect. L19.
not exactly (a) not quite, but close to (being); (b) colloq. iron. not at all, by no means.
Oxford English Dictionary Without exactly denying it, he led me to believe it was not true.