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

While those models are moving higher in the ranks, other plus-sized models aren’t afforded the same growth opportunities, as the trend of supporting plus-sized models is merely smoke in mirrors. —Essence, 19 Apr. 2024

This separatism perverts the mid-20th-century struggle for recognition merely to revive memories of injustice and attitudes of resentment about the inequality that has largely been overcome. —Armond White, National Review, 17 Apr. 2024

Paying your ever-increasing rent, bowing to the whims of trillion-dollar conglomerates that see your work as merely a line on a spreadsheet, and boy, how about that traffic? —Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024

But where Biden merely needed to hold the margins in these areas to win states like Pennsylvania in 2020, Toll suggested that the incumbent Democratic president might have a more difficult time this year. —Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024

Macron’s defense minister reached out to his Russian counterpart merely to share intelligence about that attack — or so goes the French account. —Ania Nussbaum, Fortune Europe, 16 Apr. 2024

Others have dismissed the significance of the talks entirely, claiming that the parties were merely going through the motions and buying time for battlefield realignments or that the draft agreements were unserious. —Samuel Charap, Foreign Affairs, 16 Apr. 2024

Jury selection is merely the first step of this process, which is expected to keep Trump at the defendant’s table and off the campaign trail for around six weeks. —Philip Elliott, TIME, 16 Apr. 2024

First-time feature director Margolin introduces audiences to a powerhouse duo of Thelma and Ben (Richard Roundtree) two silver-haired dynamos who prove that age is merely a number. —Addie Morfoot, Variety, 15 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely