possibly

English

Etymology

possible +‎ -ly

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒsɪbli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑsəbli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adverb

possibly (comparative more possibly, superlative most possibly)

1. (modifying a clause or predicate) Perhaps; indicates that the proposition may be true (is not certainly false) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker.

   Possibly, they will make gains in the midterm elections.

   It was possibly the costliest mistake in the organization's history.

   This rare and possibly unique specimen must be conserved.

2. (modifying a verb) In the realm of possibility; indicates that the action may successfully be performed (is not impossible) regardless of any facts or circumstances known to, stated by or implied by the speaker that might limit the performance.

   I'm much stronger than you, so you can't possibly win.

   I couldn't possibly be there on time.

   I couldn't possibly cheat on my wife.

   It seems unlikely, but, yes, they could possibly win even now.

   The police don't know him, and the information they have leads them to think he could possibly have murdered his wife.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

• conceivably, maybe, perhaps, potentially

Antonyms

• impossibly
• inevitably
• certainly

Related terms

• by chance
• mayhap
• peradventure
• perchance
• incidentally
• contingently

Translations

adverb indicating that a proposition may be true or false — see perhaps

adverb indicating that an action may successfully be performed

• Bashkir: бәлки (bəlki), ихтимал (ixtimal)
• Bulgarian: възможно (bg) (vǎzmožno)
• Catalan: possiblement (ca)
• Danish: muligvis, negated: umuligt
• Dutch: mogelijk (nl)
• Finnish: mahdollisesti (fi); mitenkään (fi) (with negation)
• French: possiblement (fr)
• German: vielleicht (de), eventuell (de), möglicherweise (de), negated: unmöglich (de)
• Indonesian: mungkin saja
• Latin: fortasse, fortassis
• Portuguese: possivelmente (pt)
• Spanish: posiblemente (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} mogelijk (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} peut-être (fr)
• Italian: possibilmente (it)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} posiblemente (es)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} kanhända (sv), ^{(please verify)} kanske (sv), ^{(please verify)} eventuellt (sv), ^{(please verify)} möjligen (sv), ^{(please verify)} möjligtvis (sv)