as in slightly
by a very small margin
the team lost another game, but at least they performed marginally better this time out
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Recent Examples of marginally
The National Hurricane Center is giving the system a 10% chance of development over the next two to seven days as environmental conditions are forecast to be only marginally conducive for development before the system moves inland over easter Mexico late Saturday or Sunday.
—
Lissette Gonzalez, CBS News, 11 June 2026
That duration is extended because Earth is near perihelion in early January, when the sun appears marginally larger than average.
—Jamie Carter, Space.com, 10 June 2026
Meanwhile, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marginally lower on Monday.
—Sean Conlon,joseph Wilkins,tanaya MacHeel,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 7 June 2026
While Arsenal are ranked 11th in this season’s Champions League, PSG are second, only marginally behind Bayern Munich.
—Graham Ruthven, New York Times, 30 May 2026
Tagovailoa’s pass, perhaps around 35 yards, was marginally underthrown and forced Simon to slow his momentum, but the ball hit Simon’s hands before hitting the grass.
—Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
Things improved as the season wore on, but only marginally.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 18 May 2026
Sasaki’s numbers with Rushing as his catcher are only marginally better than when Will Smith is catching.
—Michael Huntley, Oc Register, 17 May 2026
The star of the show, turning 60 on May 24 this year, has mellowed with age only marginally and for the most part, like Edith Piaf, il ne regrette rien.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Lissette Gonzalez, CBS News, 11 June 2026
That duration is extended because Earth is near perihelion in early January, when the sun appears marginally larger than average.
—Jamie Carter, Space.com, 10 June 2026
Meanwhile, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marginally lower on Monday.
—Sean Conlon,joseph Wilkins,tanaya MacHeel,lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 7 June 2026
While Arsenal are ranked 11th in this season’s Champions League, PSG are second, only marginally behind Bayern Munich.
—Graham Ruthven, New York Times, 30 May 2026
Tagovailoa’s pass, perhaps around 35 yards, was marginally underthrown and forced Simon to slow his momentum, but the ball hit Simon’s hands before hitting the grass.
—Daniel Flick, AJC.com, 27 May 2026
Things improved as the season wore on, but only marginally.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 18 May 2026
Sasaki’s numbers with Rushing as his catcher are only marginally better than when Will Smith is catching.
—Michael Huntley, Oc Register, 17 May 2026
The star of the show, turning 60 on May 24 this year, has mellowed with age only marginally and for the most part, like Edith Piaf, il ne regrette rien.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for marginally
Adverb
-
Across the full sample, those with insecure attachments reported wanting slightly larger families than those with secure ones, and insecure attachment was likewise modestly associated with having more children.—
Rachel Nuwer,
Scientific American,
20 June 2026
-
While the numbers of comedies on the ballot stayed almost level with last year (up very slightly to 71 from 69), dramas dropped from 126 in 2025 to 110 this year, and limited/anthology series are down to 31, from 44 last year.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
20 June 2026
Adverb
-
And three of them — Laurie Canter, Peter Uihlein and Caleb Surratt — just barely made it after finishing right on the cutline at 4 over.—
Matt Schubert,
New York Times,
20 June 2026
-
The uncomfortable truth here is that whether anyone is keeping that eye depends on which level of government prevails, and the contest has barely begun.—
Dara-Abasi Ita,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Marginally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/marginally. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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