Difference between "durchaus" and "völlig"

Question

From what I read in Duden, Wictionary, and others, it looks like durchaus and völlig can be used as synonyms in most cases, but not always. It looks like völlig can always be replaced by durchaus, but not the other way round.

Therefore, what are the cases / contexts in which durchaus cannot be replaced by völlig?

Answer 1

First of all the formal difference: While durchaus is an adverb (built from the concatenation of two prepositions), völlig is an adjective. From a formal viewpoint that means völlig can be replaced by durchaus when in adverbial use only (for example, when völlig modifies another adjective as in the following example).

Das ist völlig richtig

Das ist durchaus richtig

Note, however, the replacement modifies the meaning - The second example expects an "aber" (like in most cases when durchaus is used), while the first one doesn't necessarily.

When used as an adjective, the replacement doesn't really work:

Das ist völliger Blödsinn

Das ist durchaus Blödsinn ...

(The "durchaus" example is a valid sentence, but the meaning is entirely different: "völliger Blödsinn" is "complete nonsense", but the second example translates to something along the lines of )

While this may be nonsense, .....

I would rather state that sometimes (but, in most cases, not) durchaus and völlig can be synonyms.

Answer 2

They don't really mean the same thing at all.

"durchaus" = "indeed"

"völlig" = "completely"

That is, "völlig" (cognate with "fully") strengthens the part it modifies, it emphasizes that it is truly completely so.

"durchaus" is mainly for expressing contrasts with some other (expressed or implied) idea.

I did some web searching for practical uses of "durchaus" and found these:

• Träumen ist bei den Gießen 46ers durchaus erlaubt (i.e. dreaming is allowed, in contrast to what some might think; wouldn't mean the same thing at all with "völlig")
• Wenn ich beispielsweise den Regierungsvorschlag für die Besetzung des EU-Kommissars in der laufenden Legislaturperiode machen muss, dann finde ich das durchaus richtig, dass man nicht ohne vereinbarten Modus einfach abwartet. (he finds it right in contrast to what someone else might think; with "völlig" it would mean he finds it completely right)
• Dabei ist die vorzeitige Übergabe der königlichen Amtsgeschäfte durchaus populär geworden. (it has become popular in contrast to expectations; "völlig populär" is not a natural expression)