possibly

adverb

pos·​si·​bly ˈpä-sə-blē 

1

: in a possible manner : by any possibility

that's all she could possibly do

2

: by merest chance : perhaps

possibly he will recover

3

: it is possible or imaginable : conceivably

… a political libel which may possibly damage me.

—G. B. Shaw

Synonyms of possibly

• maybe
• perhaps
• probably

Examples of possibly in a Sentence

he may possibly recover after such a serious mistake, but it doesn't seem likely

Recent Examples on the Web

If the families win their lawsuits, OpenAI could be forced to change those rules to block more dangerous sessions and possibly to change ChatGPT’s overall design to be less sycophantic. —Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 29 Apr. 2026

After the Boeing 737 landed at the airport in San Diego, the pilot reported to the tower that the plane had possibly hit a drone while flying at about 3,000 feet. —Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026

Human ears couldn't possibly distinguish the names of obscure songs in one bar's music round. —David Oliver, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026

Now, Washington conventional wisdom, a 50-50 blend of dinner-party chatter and possibly sponsored social media posts, holds that the prize is slipping a bit from his grasp. —Ben Smith, semafor.com, 28 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing possibly

• where can (someone) (possibly) be

Rhymes for possibly

• impossibly

Kids Definition

possibly

adverb

pos·​si·​bly ˈpäs-ə-blē 

1

: by possible means : by any possibility

that cannot possibly be true

2

: perhaps

may possibly recover