virtually

adverb

vir·​tu·​al·​ly ˈvər-chə-wə-lē 

-chə-lē;

ˈvərch-wə-lē

1

a

: almost entirely : nearly

The project is virtually complete.

Virtually every applicant was overqualified for the job.

b

: for all practical purposes

She was virtually unknown prior to starring in the film.

It is virtually impossible to know the truth of the matter.

2

: by means of a computer or computer network : in a virtual location

The meeting is being held virtually.

They did all their shopping virtually.

Synonyms

• about
• all but
• almost
• borderline
• fair [chiefly British]
• fairly
• feckly [chiefly Scottish]
• more or less
• most
• much
• near
• nearly
• next to
• nigh
• practically
• somewhere
• well-nigh

Examples of virtually in a Sentence

We spent virtually all day shopping.

The stadium was virtually empty by the time the game ended.

I remember virtually everything he said.

That illness is virtually unknown in this area.

Recent Examples on the Web

In other words, Omniverse lets enterprises and cloud providers simulate an AI factory (from cooling layouts to networking) as a 3D model, test changes and troubleshoot virtually before a single server is installed. —Janakiram Msv, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025

And, Kiki had found a boyfriend, virtually, at least, in Gizmo the Grey Bird. —Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 22 Mar. 2025

The movie has virtually no immediate competition and will have access to all 400 Imax screens and numerous other premium large-format screens, which are a boon for any title. —Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Mar. 2025

The recall affects virtually all Cybertrucks sold since Tesla officially began delivering the model in November 2023, although just 1% of the vehicles are expected to have the defective part. —William Gavin, Quartz, 20 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1b