IELTS Vocabulary: Mastering the Word ‘Entirely’
Learn how to use ‘entirely’ correctly in IELTS. This video covers the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, and example sentences for ‘entirely’, helping you improve your vocabulary and boost your IELTS score.
Mastering precise vocabulary is crucial for achieving a high band score in IELTS. Today, we’re focusing on the word entirely, an adverb that can significantly enhance your language accuracy and fluency.
Word type: Entirely is an adverb. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, helping to provide more detail about how, when, where, or to what extent something happens.
Meaning: Entirely means completely and fully, with no exceptions or limitations. It emphasizes the totality or absoluteness of something.
Word history: The word entirely comes from the Old French word entier, meaning whole or complete, which itself derives from the Latin integer, meaning untouched or whole.
Synonyms: Some synonyms for entirely include completely, totally, wholly, fully, utterly, and absolutely.
These words can often be used interchangeably, but entirely tends to have a more formal tone suitable for IELTS writing and speaking tasks.
Antonyms: Antonyms or opposite words for entirely include partially, partly, somewhat, and incompletely.
Understanding these contrasts can help you use entirely more effectively in your IELTS responses.
Examples use in sentences:
Let’s look at how to use entirely in sentences relevant to common IELTS topics: Environmental issues: The new recycling program has entirely eliminated plastic waste in the community.
Education: The university’s curriculum was entirely redesigned to meet the changing demands of the job market.
Technology: With the rise of artificial intelligence, some jobs may become entirely automated in the near future.
Health: The success of the public health campaign was entirely dependent on widespread community participation.
Urban planning: The city’s transportation system was entirely overhauled to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality.
Common errors in use: Be careful not to use entirely with adjectives or verbs that already imply completeness.
For example, saying something is entirely perfect or entirely destroyed is redundant. Instead, you could say it is entirely satisfactory or entirely ruined.
Also, avoid using entirely with comparative adjectives. For instance, don’t say entirely better, but rather much better or considerably better.
To boost your IELTS score, try incorporating entirely into your speaking and writing responses. Remember, using this word accurately demonstrates a nuanced understanding of English, which can contribute to achieving that target band score of six point five.
Practice using entirely in various contexts to become more comfortable with its application in both your speaking and writing tasks.

