chiefly

1 of 2

adverb

chief·​ly ˈchē-flē 

1

: most importantly : principally, especially

2

: for the most part : mostly, mainly

chiefly

2 of 2

adjective

: of or relating to a chief

chiefly duties

Synonyms

Adverb

• altogether
• basically
• by and large
• generally
• largely
• mainly
• mostly
• overall
• predominantly
• primarily
• principally
• substantially

Examples of chiefly in a Sentence

Adverb

our video collection consists chiefly of comedies, but we have a few horror movies

Recent Examples on the Web

Adverb

Of course, not everyone goes to college chiefly to earn a high income — education can be its own reward, after all. —Alain Sherter, CBS News, 28 Apr. 2025

Computershare said this uplift was thanks chiefly to a 6.6% increase at AstraZeneca. —Royston Wild, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025

Adjective

The United States has exported chiefly chemicals, machinery and transportation equipment to Russia and imported mainly oils, chemicals and metals. —Stuart Anderson, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025

This month, a new kind of space telescope is setting out on a two-year mission to create four complete maps of the entire celestial sky that will catalog the origins of the universe and seek out the ingredients of life − chiefly water and carbon dioxide molecules − in distant interstellar clouds. —Stephen J. Beard, USA TODAY, 24 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1870, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chiefly

• briefly

Kids Definition

chiefly

adverb

chief·​ly

ˈchē-flē

1

: above all

2

: for the most part