merely

adverb

mere·​ly ˈmir-lē 

: nothing more than : only

was merely trying to help

… no boy wanted to be on record as considering a girl a major fox only to discover that she considered him merely cool.

—Richard Russo

Not merely decorative, the crisscrossing slats and fins variously filter light and provide privacy.

—Rob Haskell

Many merely desire a pleasant afternoon perusing the exhibitions in their local gallery.

—Launt Thompson

Many of the deep-sea fishes, for example, have pathetically weak skeletons and terribly flabby bodies—in extreme cases they are the consistency of gelatin and seem to be composed merely of mouth and stomach.

—Tim Flannery

… because of technology what in the past would have taken days took merely hours.

—Lee Child

Synonyms of merely

• just
• only
• simply

Examples of merely in a Sentence

the outside noise was merely a raccoon knocking over the garbage can

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, if Curl doesn’t make a clutch diving grab as the ball nosedived toward the grass, that’s merely an incomplete pass that no one remembers. — Dan Wiederer, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026

Because non-powered dams manage navigation, water supplies, and flood control, their discharge patterns cannot change merely to run turbines. — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026

Rather, the neural signals associated with threat detection and pain were most acute when people were merely anticipating the test. — Sian Leah Beilock, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2026

The terms were merely used to describe a way of preparing an order or a menu item exactly the way a customer wanted it. — Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely

Rhymes for merely

• austerely
• severely
• sincerely
• cavalierly
• clearly
• dearly
• nearly
• queerly
• yearly