merely

adverb

mere·​ly ˈmir-lē 

: nothing more than : only

was merely trying to help

… no boy wanted to be on record as considering a girl a major fox only to discover that she considered him merely cool.

—Richard Russo

Not merely decorative, the crisscrossing slats and fins variously filter light and provide privacy.

—Rob Haskell

Many merely desire a pleasant afternoon perusing the exhibitions in their local gallery.

—Launt Thompson

Many of the deep-sea fishes, for example, have pathetically weak skeletons and terribly flabby bodies—in extreme cases they are the consistency of gelatin and seem to be composed merely of mouth and stomach.

—Tim Flannery

… because of technology what in the past would have taken days took merely hours.

—Lee Child

Synonyms of merely

• just
• only
• simply

Examples of merely in a Sentence

the outside noise was merely a raccoon knocking over the garbage can

Recent Examples on the Web

Granted, Bonds led the NL by merely 35 runs created in 2004 and 37 runs created in 2001 — with a far wider lead in OPS-plus than Alvarez had this year — so both of those seasons just missed the semi-arbitrary cutoff. — Matt Kawahara, Houston Chronicle, 11 Nov. 2026

Price countered claims by outraged residents that this was merely a solution to help solve the village’s high property taxes. — Jerry Shnay, Chicago Tribune, 9 Nov. 2026

With apologies to Cole Porter, was the election a rebuke or merely an invitation to compromise? — James D. Zirin, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026

Their best chance at victory, after leading 46-32 at intermission, was to merely go 2 of 4 from the line in the closing seconds instead of 1 of 4. — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely

Rhymes for merely

• austerely
• severely
• sincerely
• cavalierly
• clearly
• dearly
• nearly
• queerly
• yearly