well and truly

English

WOTD – 15 November 2021

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌwɛl n̩ ˈtɹuːli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌwɛl n̩ ˈtɹuli/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːli
• Hyphenation: well and tru‧ly

Adverb

well and truly (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Completely; utterly; without doubt.

   Many people remained in their hiding places until the war was well and truly over.

   • 1759, [Laurence Sterne], chapter XV, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, 2nd (1st London) edition, volume I, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], published 1760, →OCLC, pages 82–83:

     [T]he ſaid intended marriage to be had, and, by God's bleſſing, to be well and truly ſolemnized and conſummated between the ſaid Walter Shandy and Elizabeth Mollineux aforeſaid, […]

   • 1792 September, O. [pseudonym], “Art. XIII. Proceedings in an Action for Debt, between the Right Hon. Charles James Fox, Plaintiff, and John Horne Tooke, Defendant. Published by the Defendant. 85 Pa. Pr. 25. Johnson. 1792. [book review]”, in The Analytical Review, or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign. […], volume XIV, number 1, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 54:

     Now then, gentlemen, I beg you to weigh well in your minds; conſider ſeriously—for what are you called here this day?—Conſider, I beg of you;—what have you now ſworn to perform?—You have ſolemnly ſworn, that "you will well and truly try the iſſue between the parties." You have ſworn to try it: well and truly to try it. Now, pray, what is the iſſue? Mr. Fox aſſerts that I owe him about 200 l., which I deny. Now the queſtion between us is, whether debt or not. That is the iſſue which you have ſworn to try; to try it well; and truly to try it.

Translations

completely; utterly; without doubt — see also completely

• Finnish: todellakin (fi), totisesti (fi)
• French: bel et bien (fr)
• Greek: απολύτως (el) (apolýtos), εντελώς (el) (entelós), πέρα για πέρα (péra gia péra)
• Polish: całkowicie (pl)
• Russian: основа́тельно (ru) n (osnovátelʹno), по́лностью (ru) n (pólnostʹju)
• Swedish: helt och hållet (sv)

Further reading

• “well and truly, phrase” under “truly, adv. (and int.) and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2021.
• “well and truly, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.