MAINLY Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

mainly

adverb

ˈmān-lē

Definition of mainly

as in mostly

for the most part you mainly need to focus on improving your golf swing

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of mainly The tight finish came after a first half with see-saw action — mainly by Stewart — but was marred by whistles and questionable foul calls. — Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 Their influence is mainly in their hyper-jerk production, which has spawned spiritual offshoots in London, Buenos Aires, and the Dominican Republic. — Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 8 Oct. 2026 Some areas, mainly to the south, could be as much as 20 degrees above normal, with highs in the lower 90s. — Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026 Villegas’ response mainly focused on America’s high cost of healthcare and politicians who are beholden to corporations benefiting from these prices. — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for mainly

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mainly

Adverb

There are currently 27 judicial vacancies at the district level and 10 nominees to fill those, mostly in Republican states.

— Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 5 Oct. 2026
At Malate Church, parishioners marked the feast Sunday by bringing their beloved pets for a special blessing — mostly dogs but also cats and even a pet snail.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of mostly

Adverb

Asfaw primarily develops cost-friendly skin care products that target young consumer needs.

— Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026
Unlike conventional chatbots that primarily respond to prompts, autonomous agents can navigate websites, use tools, and carry out sequences of actions.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of primarily

Adverb

The five original Nobel Prizes were created under the terms of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel’s will and have been awarded since 1901, with only limited interruptions, chiefly during World War I and World War II.

— Reuters, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
The costs have been driven up chiefly by efforts to modernize pricing.

— MICHAEL PHILLIS, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of chiefly

Adverb

Fan largely disappeared from Chinese screens after a 2018 tax evasion case.

— Lin Ying-Hsuan, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
The outstanding artwork of the exhibition, Goldin’s slideshow, largely devoted to candid portraits of friends, many shot in her Bowery loft, remains stunningly raw.

— J. Hoberman, ARTnews.com, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of largely

Adverb

Santa Maria, a predominantly Latino city on California’s Central Coast, is about 30 minutes south of San Luis Obispo.

— Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Expulsion is currently banned within Head Start, which serves nearly 700,000 predominantly low-income kids.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of predominantly

Adverb

The whole city ends up bearing the brunt of astronomical housing prices that, whatever their other causes, are principally downstream from a housing market that quite simply cannot keep up with demand.

— New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
Treasury officials said the network operates principally from Mexico and Venezuela and has become an important source of revenue for Tren de Aragua, which the United States designated a foreign terrorist organization last year.

— Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of principally

Adverb

For the purposes of the war at hand, the photo is, basically, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

— Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
Much like Whitford back in the late 1980s, Blyth is realizing that Kaffee basically never gets to leave the stage.

— Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of basically

Adverb

Auditors reported there was no explicit language in the Controller Office’s telework policy that required employees generally conduct telework from California.

— Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
The ⁠Paris police said the clashes there had come about when some 300 people attempted to face off against security forces, adding that the protest was generally unfolding well elsewhere.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of generally

Browse Nearby Words

mainlands

mainly

main man

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Mainly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mainly. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of mainly

adverb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

galore

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes