ordinarily

adverb

or·​di·​nar·​i·​ly ˌȯr-də-ˈner-ə-lē 

: in an ordinary manner or to an ordinary extent: such as

a

: in the ordinary course of events : usually

She was ordinarily very busy in the morning.

the jobs ordinarily handled by junior staff members

… cortisol, a hormone which ordinarily comes into play in situations of bodily stress …

—Maggie Scarf

Ordinarily, the immune system of any mammal will work to fight off a fungal parasite.

—David Quammen

b

: to the usual extent : moderately

It must suffice for him to be ordinarily honest according to the ordinary honesty of the world's ways …

—Anthony Trollope

c

: in a commonplace or inferior way : without distinction

A friend of mine … has two apartments on the 3rd floor, very ordinarily furnished …

—Walt Whitman

Synonyms

• commonly
• generally
• natch [slang]
• naturally
• normally
• typically
• usually

Examples of ordinarily in a Sentence

ordinarily, I get off work at five, but this week I'm working late to meet a project deadline

Recent Examples on the Web

Watertight compartments made the ship extremely hard to sink; and Gibbs obsessively removed the flammable wood that ordinarily would have formed much of the ship's interior decor. —Steve Inskeep, NPR, 20 Nov. 2024

Not that Windows gamers are ignored by threat actors ordinarily, as a recent threat targeting Nvidia users demonstrated, but the Winos4.0 campaign is particularly complex and dangerous. —Davey Winder, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024

Great need can also reduce an ordinarily calm and reflective hunter to a gibbering imbecile. —Jack O’Connor, Outdoor Life, 6 Nov. 2024

Among the marks found were simple circles that ordinarily would have been expected to have a six petal design inside — known as a hexafoil — to trap demons. —Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined above