radically
Americanadjective
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with regard to origin or root.
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in a complete or basic manner; thoroughly; fundamentally.
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of radically
Explanation
The adverb radically is a great way to say "in an extreme way." When your formerly long-haired friend shows up at work with a crew cut, you could say that she looks radically different. Use radically to describe things that are done in a big way, particularly a change or an extreme position. For example, the government in your state might change radically after an important election. You'll often see the phrase "radically different" used to mean a change that's enormous, possibly even transforming. Though the root of radically, radical, originally meant "root of a word," it came to mean "far-reaching, innovative, or extreme," especially when it describes political views.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"I would like to think when I am dead the system will be radically better. That's all I can hope for."
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2026
Hockney's style changed radically a few years later, after he travelled to California for the first time in 1964.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
In the end, Raman accomplished two crucial goals: Make herself better known to Angelenos outside her Hollywood Hills-centered district, while framing Pratt as someone whose views were radically out of step with L.A. voters.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
It also radically changed how the office operated, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who worked there or interacted with it from the private sector or other parts of the government.
From Salon • May 31, 2026
But we must avoid the European error; we must not suppose that, because the situation, the ways, the perceptions of black people so radically differed from those of whites, they were racially superior.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
