- used to show that you are giving your own opinion about something
- Personally, I prefer the second option.
- ‘Is it worth the effort?’ ‘Speaking personally, yes.’
- I personally think it would be the wrong thing to do.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- by a particular person rather than by somebody acting for them
- All emails will be answered personally.
- Do you know him personally (= have you met him, rather than just knowing about him from other people)?
- I’ll deal with the matter personally.
- He’s no longer personally involved in the day-to-day running of the company.
- He did not benefit personally from the fraud.
- I have never personally witnessed public violence.
- in a way that is connected with one particular person rather than a group of people synonym individually
- He was personally criticized by inspectors for his incompetence.
- You will be held personally responsible for any loss or breakage.
- in a way that is intended to be offensive
- I'm sure she didn't mean it personally.
- in a way that is connected with somebody’s personal life rather than with their job or official position
- Have you had any dealings with any of the suspects, either personally or professionally?
Idioms
See personally in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee personally in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishtake something personally
- to be offended by something
- I'm afraid he took your remarks personally.
- Please don’t take this personally, but would you mind leaving us alone for a few moments?
Check pronunciation:
personally