as in originally
in the beginning
firstly, gather all the ingredients together
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Recent Examples of firstly
However, what has supercharged the project in 2025 and piqued the interest of studios was firstly recognition in April by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of the technology as part of a new industry standard in cinematic accessibility.
—
Gus Alexiou, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Mandelson is no stranger to controversy, and twice resigned from Tony Blair's governments: firstly in 1998 over an undeclared interest-free loan; and 2001 over accusations of using his position to influence a passport decision.
—Barney Henderson, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Questions about the forward were bound to be asked, firstly because of the flames around him over the summer and also because Pochettino’s comments about Pulisic sitting out the Gold Cup only served to fan them.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
This is, firstly, a lot of ground to cover in a project that was ultimately forced to be 82 minutes.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for firstly
Gus Alexiou, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Mandelson is no stranger to controversy, and twice resigned from Tony Blair's governments: firstly in 1998 over an undeclared interest-free loan; and 2001 over accusations of using his position to influence a passport decision.
—Barney Henderson, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Questions about the forward were bound to be asked, firstly because of the flames around him over the summer and also because Pochettino’s comments about Pulisic sitting out the Gold Cup only served to fan them.
—Phil Hay, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
This is, firstly, a lot of ground to cover in a project that was ultimately forced to be 82 minutes.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for firstly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for firstly
Adverb
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About 600 workers at the CDC remained fired Monday in conjunction with the federal government shutdown after hundreds more had originally been targeted, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents CDC employees in Atlanta.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
14 Oct. 2025
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The barrage of media coverage highlights their weight-loss functions, but formulations of these drugs were originally developed to help people with diabetes control their blood sugar.—
Liz Szabo,
Scientific American,
14 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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The escape was initially revealed on Sunday by Guatemala’s director of prisons, who said that prison officials had only detected the scheme — in which inmates may have slipped out one by one, or in pairs — after hearing rumors and checking inmates’ biometric data.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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Now, many employers are looking to harness the power of AI—initially for mundane and repetitive tasks and eventually for more complicated jobs—to reduce the need to maintain the same level of human staffers on their payrolls.—
Jason Del Rey,
Fortune,
15 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Firstly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/firstly. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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