Standard Lemma guide

ideally

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /aɪˈdɪə.li/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /aɪˈdi.ə.li/
  • CMU ARPABET: AY0 D IY1 L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In an ideal way; perfectly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Given ideal circumstances; preferably.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Ideally, we would have one textbook per student, but unfortunately some of you will have to share.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: in an ideal world

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

in an ideal manner

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • ideally, this will remove all problems

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English ideal Middle English -ly English -ly English ideally From ideal + -ly.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: idealment — preferably
  • Czech: ideálně — preferably
  • Finnish: ihanteellisesti — preferably
  • French: idéalement — preferably
  • German: idealerweise — preferably
  • Italian: idealmente — preferably
  • Italian: preferibilmente — preferably
  • Polish: doskonale — preferably
  • Polish: idealnie — preferably
  • Romanian: ideal — preferably
  • Romanian: în mod ideal — preferably
  • Serbo-Croatian: idealno — preferably
  • Serbo-Croatian: идеално — preferably
  • Spanish: idealmente — preferably