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

New York State also says applicants cannot be adjudged mentally incompetent by a court or claim the right to vote elsewhere. — Digital Producer, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026

Riley was mentally checked out in LA, was one common sentiment. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026

This was the second Tommy John Surgery for López, who said the first experience better prepared him mentally for his current program. — Dan Hayes, New York Times, 27 Oct. 2026

In August 2022, Garza was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered to be jailed until a bed in a state mental health treatment facility was available. — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 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