technically

Etymology

technical + -ly

adv

1. Based on precise facts, which, however, may be contrary to common misbelief or to a traditional name.
   Near-synonym: stricto sensu
   Technically, he was Canadian, but everyone assumed he was American.
   Technically, a guinea pig is not a pig, nor is it from Guinea.
2. Based on formal (de jure) arguments, which, however, may be misleading.
   technically correct
   Due to an omission in the peace treaty of the Russo-Japanese War, Montenegro was technically at war with Japan for 102 years.
   Stalin was not technically the Head of State.
   Number 1.0 [the head bureaucrat of a legion of bureaucrats]: Bureaucrat Conrad, you are technically correct — the best kind of correct. I hereby promote you to grade 37. 2000, Bill Odenkirk, How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back (Futurama), season 2, episode 11, spoken by Number 1.0, 20th Century Fox
   "I warned you not to gaze upon my grand godson with that spell. I warned you it would not work properly. Granted, you couldn't hear me then any more than you can now, and you'd never met Tedd, but I diiiid technically say it!" 14 July 2014, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Monday, Jul 14, 2014
   For the Japanese, however, it's easier to summarize what is still afloat. Nagato, Kongō, and Haruna are technically still afloat, but all three are quite clearly on their way to the bottom. 5 May 2021, Drachinifel, 45:02 from the start, in Battle of Samar - What if TF34 was there?, archived from the original on 2022-08-19
3. Having or using the skills or talent required for a certain job or profession.
   Although she is technically gifted, her piano playing lacks passion.
   The ladies were not much the wiser, though, I confess, they were not far removed from the door. The great men inside talked indistinctly and technically, and once Doctor Dillon was so unfeeling as to crack a joke […] 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
4. According to the current state of technology.
   For now, it is technically impossible to have a manned flight to Mercury.