initially

adverb

ini·​tial·​ly i-ˈni-sh(ə-)lē 

: at the beginning : at first

The reason I initially came here was to find work.

It turned out that the situation was not as serious as we had initially believed.

Initially, the symptoms are mild.

Synonyms of initially

• originally

Examples of initially in a Sentence

we initially intended to rebuild our hurricane-damaged home from the ground up

Recent Examples on the Web

The defense has argued that Saulter was initially disciplined for spreading rumors about King having sex with former office manager Karen Charles, not for reporting Goodloe’s allegations. — Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7 July 2026

Balogun was initially sent off during the United States’ 2-0 Round of 32 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, but FIFA overturned the decision. — Lee Ying Shan,lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 7 July 2026

Burgin initially took the test in November after moving to California from Minnesota and then received the DMV warning letter in June. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2026

They were initially rumored to make up the album cover, but that proved untrue when Bridgers formally announced Lost Weekend and posted the official glitchy cover art (that was shot by Olof Grind, who also captured Punisher). — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 6 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for initially

• judicially
• officially
• artificially
• beneficially
• prejudicially
• superficially
• unofficially