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

Kansas was out-manned for the initial 10 minutes Sunday at T-Mobile Center in downtown KC, merely because the Jayhawks operated as though having the best man on the floor would be enough. —Sam McDowell December 7, Kansas City Star, 8 Dec. 2025

The move, which would send Nvidia H200s to China, seeks to find a middle ground between those who oppose exports of any advanced AI chips and those who worry that restrictions will merely hand the market to Chinese competitors. —Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 8 Dec. 2025

That’s why Benz recommends building a core portfolio of index funds, which come with low fees and merely track the performance of market indexes rather than trying to beat them. —Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 6 Dec. 2025

Others, whose stories merely suggest a political perspective, are no less energized by it. —Justin Chang, New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2025

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