mentally

adverb

men·​tal·​ly ˈmen-tᵊl-ē 

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

Examples of mentally in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Conviser’s case, which was partially dismissed for lack of standing, accused legendary DePaul softball coach Eugene Lenti of verbally and mentally abusing his athletes and physically assaulting a staffer. — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 17 Aug. 2026

Los Angeles likes to draft tight ends a year early, since the transition, mentally and physically, at this position and in this offense is so extreme. — Nate Atkins, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026

And staying socially and mentally engaged by participating in hobbies, learning new skills, and maintaining relationships with family and friends are all ways to keep the body and brain active. — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026

His allies in the legal community especially recalled his work on behalf of the mentally ill through the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, or BBHC, which manages state and federal grants for substance abuse and mental health programs. — Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for mentally

• accidentally
• detrimentally
• fundamentally
• governmentally
• incidentally
• incrementally
• instrumentally
• sentimentally
• temperamentally
• coincidentally
• environmentally
• experimentally