if only

phrase

—used to talk about something that one wants to happen or be true

If only she loved me in return!

If only it would stop raining.

Examples of if only in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But how would our brains respond if only some of those frames of film contained footage of a movie, and the rest of the frames were random junk? — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 29 Oct. 2026

These sorts of stories don’t always age well, if only because there is so much time left for things to change and the early outliers to evaporate. — Dan Woike, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2026

There’s not a lot to argue with the Emmy winner’s POV on that — if only Robertson had done those later shows and roles justice. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026

The list includes races in which there are not enough candidates to fill multiple available positions, for example, if only two candidates are running for three open school board posts. — CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for if only

• lonely