1. (

• actually ,
• really ,

) in actual fact; "to be nominally but not actually independent"; "no one actually saw the shark"; "large meteorites actually come from the asteroid belt" ;

2. (

• actually ,
• in_reality

) used to imply that one would expect the fact to be the opposite of that stated; surprisingly; "you may actually be doing the right thing by walking out"; "she actually spoke Latin"; "they thought they made the rules but in reality they were only puppets"; "people who seem stand-offish are in reality often simply nervous" ;

3. (

• actually ,

) at the present moment; "the transmission screen shows the picture that is actually on the air" ;

4. (

• actually ,

) as a sentence modifier to add slight emphasis; "actually, we all help clear up after a meal"; "actually, I haven't seen the film"; "I'm not all that surprised actually"; "she hasn't proved to be too satisfactory, actually" ;