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

• but
• just
• only
• purely
• simply

Examples of merely in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But to the United Auto Workers president, the agreements that emerged from talks that were marked by six weeks of strikes were merely the start of a victory streak and a renaissance for the 88-year-old union. —Tom Krisher, Fortune, 21 Nov. 2023

Was Pyongyang merely struggling to fine-tune existing capabilities over the three launches? —Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023

That was the consolation; the belief in Plains that their relationship, this love story, had merely paused. —Rick Rojas, New York Times, 20 Nov. 2023

But the forceful declaration is merely the end of an ambivalent record, and, for critics, demonstrates her willingness to get in sync with the demands of the GOP base. —Darius Tahir, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2023

Kitchen Tools, Beautiful and True A tool that works properly is beautiful; a tool that only looks beautiful is merely lovely. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 19 Nov. 2023

What This Means For You Not all AI is the same, and machine learning merely accelerates and catalogs data for more digestible use by physicians. —Rachel Murphy, Verywell Health, 18 Nov. 2023

Our work is merely a first step toward documenting the cost — in dollars and human lives — of inaction on this issue. —Hannah Neprash, STAT, 17 Nov. 2023

The caption is merely a 💕 emoji because, really, the photo speaks for itself. —Marci Robin, Allure, 15 Nov. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely