What is the role of "virtually" in this sentence?

Question

It is virtually impossible to escape this place!

I don't really understand what is virtually doing there. First, I can hardly tell what it means to be virtual, and second, I still don't see any extra value added to the sentence compared to

It is impossible to escape this place!

As far as I can tell, virtually seems to simply give emphasis to the current situation. But I'm lost.

According to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/virtual,

1 . Existing or resulting in essence or effect though not in actual fact, form, or name: the virtual extinction of the buffalo.

I don't get that meaning, and I certainly don't even understand the difference between the virtual extinction of the buffalo and the extinction of the buffalo. Now then, I may have grabbed the wrong definition. Here's the other one:

2 . Existing in the mind, especially as a product of the imagination. Used in literary criticism of a text.

This definition seems to suggest me that virtually is used to create some kind of psychological (of the mind) context. So when they say

It is virtually impossible to escape this place!

It is meant to say something like "even though it is physically possible to escape, people are too scared to even try to do it - therefore, it is rather impossible to escape".

Not sure. Any ideas about the usage of virtually?

Note: The context in the sentence I provided is basically this: It is from an article about a community where people are so poor that

It is virtually impossible to escape this place!

Answer 1

You're over-thinking it. Virtual here means "in essence, but not in fact".

to clarify:

I certainly don't even understand the difference between the virtual extinction of the buffalo and the extinction of the buffalo.

Extinct means "no longer in existence; having died out." For the buffalo to be extinct, every last buffalo must have perished from the Earth.

The North American buffalo is not extinct. There are a few thousand of them left. They are virtually extinct.

It is virtually impossible to escape this place!

It's very, very difficult to escape, nigh on impossible, but nothing is completely impossible. Virtually nothing...

to clarify some more: I think virtually can be distinguished from almost, in that almost merely denotes quantitative proximity. If a bullet whizzed by your head, it almost killed you -- but there's a tremendous difference between being almost killed and actually being killed.

Virtually means the difference between the current state and the named state is detectable, but not significant. The buffalo is virtually extinct in the sense that it exists only in a few scattered domesticated herds. The continental masses of bison that once ruled the Great Plains, their essential buffalo-ness, are gone forever.

Answer 2

In these contexts, virtually means "almost".

It is virtually [almost] impossible to escape this place!

and

It is impossible to escape this place!

are different. The first implies that it is possible, although very difficult. It is the same with your extinct sentence. If an animal is extinct, there are none left. If it is virtually, or almost, extinct, there are very few left and it will be extinct soon, unless something is done to prevent its decline.

Answer 3

By "in essence, but not in fact", you should understand that you can escape that place but it draws so much attention that you'd never escape(say without visiting it).

Answer 4

Definition: virtual = almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition.

"Virtually" is used here in context for "Nearly", "Almost" or "Close to".

Examples:

It is 'virtually' impossible to escape this place! -or- It is 'nearly' impossible to escape this place! -or- It is 'almost' impossible to escape this place! -or- It is 'close to' impossible to escape this place!

I hope this makes sense :-D

Answer 5

It is OED sense 1b of the adverb - virtually.

1b. In effect, although not according to strict definition; to all intents and purposes; as good as; practically. Later frequently in weakened use: nearly, almost.

a1600 R. Hooker Disc. Justif. (1612) 32 No man is ignorant of their first principles, which doe vertually containe whatsoever by naturall meanes, is, or can be knowne.

a1626 L. Andrewes XCVI Serm. (1629) xiv. 131 That was but virtually; as good as borne: This, actually; borne indeed.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. iv. 160 Continue correspondency with..some Professour or Secretary, who virtually is the whole University, or State.

1718 M. Prior Alma ii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 345 By the Peep-holes in his Crest, Is it not virtually confest, That there his Eye took distant Aim.

1791 E. Burke Appeal New to Old Whigs 16 It is virtually a begging of the question.

1846 G. H. Haydon Five Years Austral. Felix iii. 26 The several divisions of the country are so vaguely defined as to render accuracy in detail virtually impossible.

1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. I. ii. 301 Before the middle of the 18th century the laws against Catholic worship were virtually obsolete.

1888 Lancet 18 Aug. 335/2 The railway companies commonly submit the eyesight of their servants, virtually their whole staff, to a series of careful tests.

1940 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 45 554 She is still a virtually unsocialized creature.

1989 C. S. Murray Crosstown Traffic vii. 161 Sunday morning was virtually the high spot of his week.

2011 Vanity Fair Nov. 188/1 Banks could sell virtually any product they wanted, on any terms.