- 1
Completely, totally, 100% — with nothing left out. It is an adverb, and it usually sits in front of an adjective or a past participle: wholly wrong, wholly responsible, wholly dependent on his parents.
completely, totally, 100%就是完全、徹底、百分之百 with nothing left out一點都不剩 it is an adverb它是副詞 and it usually sits in front of an adjective or a past participle通常放在形容詞或過去分詞前面 wholly wrongwholly wrong, wholly responsiblewholly responsible, wholly dependent on his parentswholly dependent on his parents
It is close in meaning to 'completely' and 'entirely', but it feels more formal and more written. You will meet it in news reports, in legal or business writing, in essays — not often in a friendly chat. If you say 'You're wholly right' to a friend, it sounds a bit like you are reading from a document.
it is close in meaning to 'completely' and 'entirely'它的意思跟'completely'和'entirely'很接近 but it feels more formal and more written但感覺更正式、更書面 you will meet it你會在 in news reports新聞報導裡, in legal or business writing法律或商業文件裡, in essays還有論文裡看到它 not often in a friendly chat但不太會出現在朋友聊天裡 if you say 'You're wholly right' to a friend如果你對朋友說'You're wholly right' it sounds a bit like you are reading from a document聽起來會有點像在唸文件
Two habits of the word are worth noticing. First, it very often appears in the negative, in the phrase 'not wholly': 'I'm not wholly convinced', 'The plan was not wholly successful.' Here it is doing something soft and polite — it does not mean 'not at all', it means 'yes, partly, but not all the way'. English speakers use it to disagree gently.
two habits of the word are worth noticing這個字有兩個習慣值得注意 first第一 it very often appears in the negative它很常用在否定句裡 in the phrase 'not wholly'也就是'not wholly'這個說法 'I'm not wholly convinced''I'm not wholly convinced', 'The plan was not wholly successful.''The plan was not wholly successful.' here it is doing something soft and polite這裡它是在做一件委婉又客氣的事 it does not mean 'not at all'它不是說「完全不」 it means 'yes, partly, but not all the way'而是說「是有一點，但沒有到全部」 English speakers use it to disagree gently英語人士用它來委婉地表示不同意
Second, it fits naturally with words that already sound serious: wholly unacceptable, wholly inadequate, wholly owned. 'A wholly owned subsidiary' is a fixed business phrase for a company that another company owns every share of.
second第二 it fits naturally with words that already sound serious它很自然地會搭配本來就聽起來很嚴重的字 wholly unacceptablewholly unacceptable, wholly inadequatewholly inadequate, wholly ownedwholly owned 'A wholly owned subsidiary''A wholly owned subsidiary' is a fixed business phrase是一個固定的商業用語 for a company that another company owns every share of指另一家公司持有全部股份的公司
Strictly, some careful writers say 'wholly' should describe a thing that has parts, so a whole thing can be spoken of — but in real use people simply treat it as a formal 'completely'.
strictly嚴格來說 some careful writers say 'wholly' should describe a thing that has parts有些講究的作家認為wholly該用在有部分可言的東西上 so a whole thing can be spoken of這樣才能說它是整體 but in real use但實際使用上 people simply treat it as a formal 'completely'大家就是把它當成正式版的'completely'來用
組成whole（整個的）+ -ly（把形容詞變成副詞的字尾）。注意拼法：whole 去掉 e 之後加 -ly，所以是 wholly，中間只有一個 l 的音卻有兩個 l 的字母。這個字從中古英語 holly / holliche 一路走來，和 holy（神聖的）其實是同一個源頭分出去的兩兄弟。
原始詞典資料3 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
whollyadv/ˈhəʊ.li/
- 1
Completely and entirely; to the fullest extent.
- wholly wrong
- a wholly-owned subsidiary
- 2
dialectalinformalCompletely and entirely; to the fullest extent.
- ‘You ain't very strong, are you?’ said a neighbour with sympathetic intent, and ‘You don't have very good health, I expect?’ asked another. Mr Colville said, ‘He do look wholly pale, that's a fact.’ The word ‘wholly’ thus used puzzled me for some time. In Suffolk it is used for ‘very’ or ‘really’, and crops up in almost every sentence. But at first I thought Mr Colville was ascribing to me an air of sanctity.
- 3
Exclusively and solely.
- A creature wholly given to brawls and wine.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。