as in originally
in the beginning
firstly, gather all the ingredients together
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Recent Examples of firstly
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
Another contributor is the increase in childlessness, Seabright said, which has two effects—firstly, fewer children born of Christian parents, and secondly, childless couples and younger single people are less likely to belong to Christian churches than couples with children.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
Outlining its overall mission, BIFF highlighted three key directions for the festival: firstly, to reaffirm its identity as Asia’s representative film festival, which includes the launch of the competition section.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 30 Apr. 2025
But what the 175 background interviews did was, firstly, reinforced to me that (the band members) were reliable witnesses, certainly of that period of their lives from their childhood forward.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for firstly
Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 22 Aug. 2025
Another contributor is the increase in childlessness, Seabright said, which has two effects—firstly, fewer children born of Christian parents, and secondly, childless couples and younger single people are less likely to belong to Christian churches than couples with children.
—Jasmine Laws, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 July 2025
Outlining its overall mission, BIFF highlighted three key directions for the festival: firstly, to reaffirm its identity as Asia’s representative film festival, which includes the launch of the competition section.
—Liz Shackleton, Deadline, 30 Apr. 2025
But what the 175 background interviews did was, firstly, reinforced to me that (the band members) were reliable witnesses, certainly of that period of their lives from their childhood forward.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 16 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for firstly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for firstly
Adverb
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Excelsior Club was originally a house built in 1917.—
Catherine Muccigrosso,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Sep. 2025
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics today issued a revision of its employment numbers for the twelve months between April of 2024 and March of 2025, showing more than nine hundred thousand fewer new jobs than originally estimated.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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The Utah Department of Public of Safety said in an update Wednesday night that two people were initially taken into custody after the shooting but later released.—
Meredith Deliso,
ABC News,
11 Sep. 2025
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The university initially stated on social media that a suspect was in custody, but Scott Trotter, a university spokesman, told the New York Times and Deseret News that police determined the person who was taken into custody was not the shooter.—
George Petras,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Firstly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/firstly. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
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