exactly identical to

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "exactly identical to" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when emphasizing that two things are the same in every possible way. Example: "The two documents are exactly identical to each other, with no differences whatsoever."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

49 human-written examples

But nowhere in Ms. Black's article was there a sentence exactly identical to any of Mr. Layne's.

The New York Times

We still don't know whether the women are seeking to overhaul their pay structure to make it exactly identical to the men's bonus-only structure.

The Guardian - Sport

His self-reflexivity rarely went beyond stories in which characters narrate their lives to an unnamed Yiddish writer who resembles but isn't exactly identical to Singer.

The New Yorker

Now, America's current economic troubles aren't exactly identical to those of Japan in 1999-2000 Japann was experiencing outright deflation, while we aren't — yet.

The New York Times

He learned that an expired Pakistani passport that designated as Muslim a person with a name and birth date almost (but not exactly) identical to his had since been electronically associated with his green card.

The New Yorker

The master equation analysis gives results exactly identical to those of the deterministic analysis.

Chemical Engineering Science

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

11 human-written examples

Dr. Yuen said that a genetic sequencing of samples from the man in Guangzhou who has SARS had found that the main "spike" protein was exactly identical, down to the last amino acid, to the new sublineage of the virus found in civet cats.

The New York Times

This conservation is strongly supported by the expression of Tcf7 as a sharp and large domain restricted to the diencephalon (Fig. 7F H), that is in an exactly identical manner to the Lef-Tcf factors downstream of Wnt signaling in other vertebrates (e., g., see ZFIN for zebrafish).

Plosone

"When you are wandering nowadays around the savannas of Africa, everything is exactly identical... to what the explorers and scientists of the 19th century lived but with a big difference: We are going there equipped with modern GPS, powerful 4x4 vehicles, [and] medicines to combat malaria," Serrallonga says.

Science Magazine

The resulting multispectral image will of course be a result of three sub-images which are not exactly identical owing to the difference in reflectivity of the imaged layer for the three wavelengths.

Biomedical Optics Express

A JATAC distance of 0 does not exactly correspond to a cd-hit-454 stringency of 100%, as it is a lot more probable that two artificial duplicates share the same nucleotide sequence than that they share the exactly identical flowgram to the second decimal place.

Bioinformatics

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "exactly identical to" when you want to emphasize the complete and utter sameness of two things. This phrase leaves no room for interpretation or slight variations.

Common error

Avoid using "exactly identical to" in extremely casual conversations where simpler phrases like "the same" or "completely similar" would suffice. Overusing it can make your speech sound overly formal or stilted.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "exactly identical to" functions as a descriptive adjective phrase. It modifies a noun by specifying that it is completely and perfectly the same as something else. As Ludwig confirms, this phrase is grammatically correct and usable.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

Science

48%

News & Media

27%

Wiki

4%

Less common in

Formal & Business

3%

Encyclopedias

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "exactly identical to" is a grammatically sound and frequently used expression that emphasizes the complete and utter sameness between two or more things. As Ludwig AI confirms, the expression is usable and correct in written English. It's best suited for contexts where precision is key, such as scientific reports or news articles, but should be used sparingly in casual conversation to avoid sounding overly formal. Remember to consider using alternative phrases like "completely the same as" or "perfectly equivalent to" depending on the specific nuance you wish to convey.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

perfectly equivalent to

Emphasizes equivalence but may not always imply a one-to-one correspondence in every aspect.

completely the same as

More straightforward and less formal, focusing on the absence of any difference.

precisely equivalent to

Stresses the accuracy and exactness of the equivalence.

absolutely equivalent to

Highlights the total and unconditional nature of the equivalence.

entirely equivalent to

Similar to 'completely the same as', but slightly more formal.

perfectly analogous to

Suggests a similarity that is so close as to be considered the same in relevant aspects.

indistinguishable from

Implies that no difference can be detected, even if one might theoretically exist.

duplicate of

Focuses on replication and being an exact copy.

a carbon copy of

Colloquial expression for an exact replica.

one and the same as

Emphasizes that two seemingly separate things are actually a single entity.

FAQs

What does "exactly identical to" mean?

The phrase "exactly identical to" means that two or more things are completely and perfectly the same, without any differences whatsoever.

What can I say instead of "exactly identical to"?

You can use alternatives like "completely the same as", "perfectly equivalent to", or "indistinguishable from" depending on the context.

Is it redundant to say "exactly identical"?

While "identical" already implies exactness, using "exactly identical" emphasizes the complete and utter sameness, leaving no room for even minor differences. It's not strictly redundant, but adds emphasis.

How to use "exactly identical to" in a sentence?

For example, you could say: "The two reports were "exactly identical to" each other, confirming the initial findings."