as in originally
in the beginning
we initially intended to rebuild our hurricane-damaged home from the ground up
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Recent Examples of initially
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times pulled their Presidential endorsements last year; Trump filed frivolous lawsuits against ABC News, which quickly settled, and CBS News, which initially vowed to fight but now seems poised to settle.
—
Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
On Monday, April 14, Knowles posted an adorable video to Instagram in which her brows initially look very bold—but that's only because Carter is applying a tint.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 15 Apr. 2025
The game's main story begins the day after the dance, meaning players initially only hear about what happened there through dialogue.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
Meta’s legal team added that many creators were initially skeptical of Instagram Reels, a product launched in response to TikTok, because short-form videos tended to monetize significantly less than longer traditional videos.
—Beatrice Peterson, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for initially
Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025
On Monday, April 14, Knowles posted an adorable video to Instagram in which her brows initially look very bold—but that's only because Carter is applying a tint.
—Marci Robin, Allure, 15 Apr. 2025
The game's main story begins the day after the dance, meaning players initially only hear about what happened there through dialogue.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025
Meta’s legal team added that many creators were initially skeptical of Instagram Reels, a product launched in response to TikTok, because short-form videos tended to monetize significantly less than longer traditional videos.
—Beatrice Peterson, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for initially
Recent Examples of Synonyms for initially
Adverb
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Hedges originally named it Leptotyphlops carlae after Carla, but subsequent genetic and morphological studies placed it in a different genus within the same family.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
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Source: The National Weather Service This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 5:39 PM.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Initially.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/initially. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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