ideally

adverb

ide·​al·​ly ī-ˈdē-ə-lē 

-ˈdē(-ə)l-lē

1

a

: conformably to or in respect to an ideal : perfectly

b

: for best results

ideally, the counselor should vary his techniques for each applicant

—T. M. Martinez

c

: in accordance with an ideal or typical standard : classically

2

: in relation to an exemplar

3

: in idea or imagination : mentally

Synonyms

• faultlessly
• flawlessly
• immaculately
• impeccably
• pat
• perfectly

Examples of ideally in a Sentence

His skills made him ideally suited for the job.

They were ideally suited to one another.

The ski slope was situated ideally.

Recent Examples on the Web

Replace Windows with another operating system, and ideally one that will keep getting security updates. —Justin Pot, Wired News, 9 May 2025

Or, Go For A Personal Chef Mother’s Day is here, ideally meaning mom is not in the kitchen. —Ronny Maye, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025

Second, whereas current frontier AIs can fabricate answers because they are trained to please humans, Scientist AI would ideally generate honest and justified explanatory hypotheses. —Yoshua Bengio, Time, 9 May 2025

According to Thomas, effective tranexamic acid formulas will have TXA listed within the top half of the ingredients list, ideally at a 2 to 5% concentration. —Tracy Achonwa, Vogue, 8 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for ideally

• kiswahili
• freely
• keeley
• mealy
• seely
• steely
• vilely
• intraperitoneally
• lapilli
• swahili

Kids Definition

ideally

adverb

ide·​al·​ly ī-ˈdē-ə-lē 

-ˈdē(-ə)l-lē

1

: in agreement with an ideal : perfectly

ideally suited to the job

2

: for best results

ideally, each student should arrive early