usually

adverb

usu·​al·​ly ˈyü-zhə-wə-lē 

-zhə-lē;

ˈyüzh-wə-lē,

ˈyüzh-lē

: according to the usual or ordinary course of things : most often : as a rule : customarily, ordinarily

a trip that usually takes an hour

a time of year when the weather is usually hot

On weekdays, I usually biked alone around San Francisco.

—Oliver Sacks

To establish a new epoch, geologists usually have to find clear evidence in the rock record of a massive, planet-altering shift.

—Gayathri Vaidyanathan

Celebrity outbursts are usually so outrageous that the average person can't really relate to them.

—Kyra Kyles

These chemicals usually do not kill the insects: a plant does not care whether predators die; it just wants them to go away and not come back.

—Mark P. Mattson

Synonyms

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

Examples of usually in a Sentence

we usually go out to eat on Fridays

Recent Examples on the Web

While infections usually climb every three to five years, pertussis was among many germs that were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. —Alexander Tin, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2025

But Kempczinski said the outbreak hurt sales of the Quarter Pounder, which is usually a big profit-generator. —Dee-Ann Durbin The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 11 Feb. 2025

The annual State of the Judiciary address given yesterday by the chief judge of New York’s highest court, Rowan Wilson, is usually a mundane event, watched by few and noted by even fewer. —Steve Zeidman, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025

Her travel is often paid for by the host organizations, but the city usually pays for her security detail and any other staffers who attend. —Carlie Kollath Wells, Axios, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above