as in slightly
in a very small quantity or degree
although the more expensive TV set is nominally better than the other, it's not worth the big difference in price
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Recent Examples of nominally
That night, Kane was injured, and Carsley tried to pick the boldest, most talented team possible, with Jude Bellingham nominally up front, and Foden, Palmer, Gordon and Bukayo Saka in, too.
—
Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026
Signs would nominally point Joe.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Mar. 2026
For a nominally environmentalist event, the summit had an unusual emphasis on professional development.
—Gaby Del Valle, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
The raft of one-year deals Denver agreed to on Wednesday with players like TE Lucas Krull, DL Matt Henningsen and FB Adam Prentice will only move Denver’s cap space nominally.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 11 Mar. 2026
So that was nominally the notion again last season … only for Rice to be suspended for the first six games and miss the final three games of the season after suffering a concussion.
—Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
Long before the war, the government had posted a small number of bodyguards near Ahmadinejad, nominally to protect a prominent citizen but also to keep tabs on him.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2026
Almost half a century ago, Lebanon implicitly legalized Hezbollah and agreed to share security responsibilities – which is almost always exclusively within the hands of the state – with Hezbollah, a nominally nonstate entity.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2026
Proceedings from the nominally closed committee were halted when a Republican leaked an image of Clinton to a conservative influencer, and House Republicans reportedly asked her about UFOs and the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
—semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2026
Signs would nominally point Joe.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Mar. 2026
For a nominally environmentalist event, the summit had an unusual emphasis on professional development.
—Gaby Del Valle, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
The raft of one-year deals Denver agreed to on Wednesday with players like TE Lucas Krull, DL Matt Henningsen and FB Adam Prentice will only move Denver’s cap space nominally.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 11 Mar. 2026
So that was nominally the notion again last season … only for Rice to be suspended for the first six games and miss the final three games of the season after suffering a concussion.
—Kansas City Star, 10 Mar. 2026
Long before the war, the government had posted a small number of bodyguards near Ahmadinejad, nominally to protect a prominent citizen but also to keep tabs on him.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2026
Almost half a century ago, Lebanon implicitly legalized Hezbollah and agreed to share security responsibilities – which is almost always exclusively within the hands of the state – with Hezbollah, a nominally nonstate entity.
—Mireille Rebeiz, The Conversation, 4 Mar. 2026
Proceedings from the nominally closed committee were halted when a Republican leaked an image of Clinton to a conservative influencer, and House Republicans reportedly asked her about UFOs and the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.
—semafor.com, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nominally
slightly
Adverb
-
And by the time the principal and interest are fully paid off, in 2048, public payments for the team will total slightly less than one and a half billion dollars.—
Louisa Thomas,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Gumbs projects slightly better than Sapp, largely due to his lean 6-foot-4 frame that fits the mold of mutant edge rushers the NFL is currently searching for.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nominally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominally. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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