mentally

adverb

men·​tal·​ly ˈmen-tᵊl-ē How to pronounce mentally (audio)
1
: in the mind
Mentally he promised himself that he would never again use a collar on any living creature.Brian Jacques
: using the mind
able to mentally calculate large sums
2
: with regard to the mind or its capacity
physically and mentally healthy people
a mentally competent adult
a mentally challenging activity
… if you try to hide the fact that you feel mentally inadequate, and so go around making jokes about your own dullness and acting as if it didn't bother you at all …David Foster Wallace
I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.Rick Riordan

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Jayson Tatum's early ankle injury in Game 7 seemed to impact the Celtics mentally, but Miami won it in resounding fashion, 103-84, to avoid being on the wrong side of history. Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic, 29 May 2023 Ten of them were mentally unwell and admitted to Lahore’s Punjab Institute of Mental Health, the report said. Team Quartz India, Quartz, 26 May 2023 In the same year, a mentally disturbed teenager fired a single shot toward the queen's car during a visit to New Zealand. CBS News, 26 May 2023 The case marks another example of alarming security incidents in the Washington, DC, area involving government offices or officials, easily obtainable weapons and mentally unstable people. Marshall Cohen, CNN, 25 May 2023 This allows our military force to be stronger and more mentally fit. Christina Fuoco-karasinski, Peoplemag, 25 May 2023 Parol is now fully recovered – both physically and mentally. Katherine Yeske Taylor, SPIN, 25 May 2023 Black women in Florida have the worst maternal mortality rates of any group in the state, and research has shown that people who are denied abortions and forced to give birth suffer mentally, financially and educationally. The Editors, Scientific American, 25 May 2023 Now, Sandoval’s efforts to characterize Kristen Doute as mentally unstable – to the point of accusing her of having a personality disorder – feels like gaslighting. Louis Staples, Rolling Stone, 24 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mentally.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mentally was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near mentally

Cite this Entry

“Mentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentally. Accessed 6 Jun. 2023.

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