ordinarily

adverb

or·​di·​nar·​i·​ly ˌȯr-də-ˈner-ə-lē 

: in an ordinary manner or to an ordinary extent: such as

a

: in the ordinary course of events : usually

She was ordinarily very busy in the morning.

the jobs ordinarily handled by junior staff members

… cortisol, a hormone which ordinarily comes into play in situations of bodily stress …

—Maggie Scarf

Ordinarily, the immune system of any mammal will work to fight off a fungal parasite.

—David Quammen

b

: to the usual extent : moderately

It must suffice for him to be ordinarily honest according to the ordinary honesty of the world's ways …

—Anthony Trollope

c

: in a commonplace or inferior way : without distinction

A friend of mine … has two apartments on the 3rd floor, very ordinarily furnished …

—Walt Whitman

Synonyms

• commonly
• generally
• natch [slang]
• naturally
• normally
• typically
• usually

Examples of ordinarily in a Sentence

ordinarily, I get off work at five, but this week I'm working late to meet a project deadline

Recent Examples on the Web

Meetings ordinarily scheduled for every other month have been canceled since October. —Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2024

While the case would ordinarily be strictly a local search and rescue police operation, the identity of the missing woman, Alice (Anna Torv), brings Melbourne detective Falk and his investigative partner Carmen (Jacqueline McKenzie, wasted in a nothing role) to the scene. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 May 2024

The games are still more than two months away, yet institutions that wouldn’t ordinarily seem athletically-inclined are shifting into sport mode. —Amy Verner, Vogue, 2 May 2024

For an upstart like Skydance, buying Paramount Global, ordinarily considered an ailing company, would represent a coup. —Paolo Confino, Fortune, 11 Apr. 2024

Plays do not ordinarily lend themselves well to audiobooks. —Rhoda Feng, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024

The goal of the service is to let travelers fix the security issues that would ordinarily require a pat-down or secondary screening by TSA officers. —Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024

Many fliers who would have ordinarily used Southwest Florida International Airport in Lee County chose SRQ as an alternative. —James A. Jones Jr., Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024

House lawmakers are ordinarily given 72 hours to review legislation before a vote is held. —Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 21 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined above