Dictionary

in fact en · ADP

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈfækt/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From fact (“deed, action”) (now obsolete, except in law). Perhaps ultimately a calque of French en fait.

Meanings

1. Resulting from the actions of parties.
2. (modal) Actually; in truth; de facto.
   • People think he's rich, but in fact he's nearly penniless.
   • A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair. 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter I, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0016:
   • We tend to think of the seafloor a few kilometres down as a flat plain. In fact, about two-thirds of this “abyssal” seabed is made up of gentle rolling hills a few hundred metres high, says Jennifer Durden at the University of Southampton, UK. 2015 August 8, Bob Holmes, “Ocean hills yield secret ecosystems”, in New Scientist, number 3033, archived from the original on 05 Sep 2015, page 14:
   • Menggetimur (d. 1433),¹⁸ chief of the Odoli subtribe of the Chien-chou Jurchen, had in fact moved into Korea south of the Tumen River. Because he offered tribute to the Choson court and had encamped at Hoeryŏng (Chinese: Hui-ning), the Koreans regarded him as their vassal. 1998, Donald N. Clark, “Sino-Korean tributary relations under the Ming”, in Denis Twitchett, Frederick W. Mote, editors, The Cambridge History of China, volume 8, number 2, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 286:
   • Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter III, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
3. Moreover.
   • I don't have the time or patience to deal with him. In fact, I barely even have time for being here at all.

Coordinates

in law · de jure

Synonyms

as a matter of fact · in actuality · as a matter of fact

Translations (78)

pl w rzeczywistości (actually, in truth) · ru на са́мом де́ле (actually, in truth) · io fakte (actually, in truth) · fi tosiasiassa (actually, in truth) · pl zaiste (actually, in truth) · nl in feite (actually, in truth) · it di fatto (actually, in truth) · sh u stvari (actually, in truth) · ar فِي الْحَقِيقَة (actually, in truth) · nl feitelijk (actually, in truth) · ka სინამდვილეში (actually, in truth) · ru факти́чески (actually, in truth) · rsk справди (actually, in truth) · rsk наисце (actually, in truth) · sh у ствари (actually, in truth) · an de feito (actually, in truth) · ja 実際には (actually, in truth) · gl de feito (actually, in truth) · fi oikeastaan (actually, in truth) · de eigentlich (actually, in truth) · ka ფაქტობრივად (actually, in truth) · ca de fet (actually, in truth) · grc ἀληθῶς (actually, in truth) · ro de fapt (actually, in truth) · he בְּעֶצֶם (actually, in truth) · hu valójában (actually, in truth) · is í rauninni (actually, in truth) · ka რეალურად (actually, in truth) · pl tak naprawdę (actually, in truth) · rsk поправдзе (actually, in truth) · ka ნამდვილად (actually, in truth) · ca en realitat (actually, in truth) · el στην πραγματικότητα (actually, in truth) · tl ang totoo (actually, in truth) · grc τῷ ὄντι (actually, in truth) · ast de fechu (actually, in truth) · rsk насправди (actually, in truth) · pl w rzeczy samej (actually, in truth) · vo jenöfo (actually, in truth) · sh у бити (actually, in truth) · ru на де́ле (actually, in truth) · pt na verdade (actually, in truth) · pl w istocie (actually, in truth) · de tatsächlich (actually, in truth) · cmn 其實 /其实 (actually, in truth) · it in realtà (actually, in truth) · bg в действителност (actually, in truth) · de in Wirklichkeit (actually, in truth) · cy mewn gwirionedd (actually, in truth) · ur بلکہ (actually, in truth) · is í raun (actually, in truth) · es de hecho (actually, in truth) · eo fakte (actually, in truth) · fa در واقع (actually, in truth) · fi tosiasiallisesti (actually, in truth) · tg дарвоқеъ (actually, in truth) · el όντως (actually, in truth) · ru вообще́-то (actually, in truth) · ka ფაქტიურად (actually, in truth) · el πράγματι (actually, in truth) · rsk у ствари (actually, in truth) · hy իրականում (actually, in truth) · rsk педиґ (actually, in truth) · la rēvēra (actually, in truth) · fr en fait (actually, in truth) · tl sa totoo lang (actually, in truth) · sh u biti (actually, in truth) · ja 実は (actually, in truth) · izh itse assiaas (actually, in truth) · fi itse asiassa (actually, in truth) · cs ve skutečnosti (actually, in truth) · mi koa (actually, in truth) · rsk воинстину (actually, in truth) · sv faktiskt (actually, in truth) · ru в действи́тельности (actually, in truth) · fa در حقیقت (actually, in truth) · is reyndar (actually, in truth) · cmn 事實上 /事实上 (actually, in truth)