initially

adverb

ini·​tial·​ly i-ˈni-sh(ə-)lē How to pronounce initially (audio)
: 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.

Examples of initially in a Sentence

we initially intended to rebuild our hurricane-damaged home from the ground up
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Healthy pups Within two weeks of treatment, the Pdha2 knockout mice, which initially exhibited meiotic arrest, showed a resumption of meiotic progression. Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 13 Oct. 2025 At that press conference, the family initially asked for footage not to be released until 15 days have passed, the maximum time allowed under department policy. David Clarey, jsonline.com, 13 Oct. 2025 Wilson got up limping, and what was initially believed to be a hip contusion was later revealed to be a knee injury. Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025 The Israeli leader initially accepted the invite, only to backtrack two hours later. Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for initially

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of initially was circa 1628

Cite this Entry

“Initially.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initially. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

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