Words / B2

POS-uh-blee/ˈpɒsəbli/

Possibly means perhaps: possibly caused by; could possibly. Maybe is informal; probably is stronger (already in the dictionary). The outage was possibly caused by firmware. Use it to hedge, then give evidence. Do not stack possibly with perhaps.

Meaning

Perhaps; used to say that something might be true.

Examples

• “The outage was possibly caused by a firmware update, the trust said.”
• “Could you possibly extend the deadline, which is the polite request.”

Good to know

possibly + verb / adjective; could possibly. Informal: maybe. Stronger: probably. News hedges and polite requests. Uncertain, not likely.

Near in meaning

perhaps

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