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
Teammates Will Richard, Moses Moody and Buddy Hield, nominally shooting guards, also fit into that bucket.
—
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026
Unlike others of his ilk, Elon Musk, nominally more interested in colonizing Mars than other parts of Earth, appears to see the annexation of Greenland as a purely nationalistic venture.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2026
And a whole succession of leaders from countries that are nominally still American allies — Britain, Germany, South Korea — are wooing rather than shunning Beijing to deepen economic cooperation.
—Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
More than a year after a ceasefire nominally ended active fighting, much of southern Lebanon bears the ecological scars of war.
—Josiane Yazbeck, The Conversation, 22 Jan. 2026
Soccer is exclusively about atmosphere and identity, so the experience of being in the crowd and the experience of the game itself are only nominally associated, in the same way going to see the Grateful Dead in the late 1980s was only nominally about music.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
With Morrissey still nominally running for reelection, Republicans were trying to recruit someone to run for DA… just in case.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
Under this system, the brokerages nominally own the stock, but all the rights that attach to it—dividends, voting privileges, and so on—remain with the customers.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2025
And a growing share is coming from nominally private companies like Huawei, maker of smartphones, telecom equipment, and AI software, and CATL, the battery giant.
—Andy Browne, semafor.com, 20 Nov. 2025
Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 27 Jan. 2026
Unlike others of his ilk, Elon Musk, nominally more interested in colonizing Mars than other parts of Earth, appears to see the annexation of Greenland as a purely nationalistic venture.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2026
And a whole succession of leaders from countries that are nominally still American allies — Britain, Germany, South Korea — are wooing rather than shunning Beijing to deepen economic cooperation.
—Andreas Kluth, Twin Cities, 22 Jan. 2026
More than a year after a ceasefire nominally ended active fighting, much of southern Lebanon bears the ecological scars of war.
—Josiane Yazbeck, The Conversation, 22 Jan. 2026
Soccer is exclusively about atmosphere and identity, so the experience of being in the crowd and the experience of the game itself are only nominally associated, in the same way going to see the Grateful Dead in the late 1980s was only nominally about music.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
With Morrissey still nominally running for reelection, Republicans were trying to recruit someone to run for DA… just in case.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 14 Jan. 2026
Under this system, the brokerages nominally own the stock, but all the rights that attach to it—dividends, voting privileges, and so on—remain with the customers.
—Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2025
And a growing share is coming from nominally private companies like Huawei, maker of smartphones, telecom equipment, and AI software, and CATL, the battery giant.
—Andy Browne, semafor.com, 20 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nominally
slightly
Adverb
-
The air will warm slightly on Monday, but temperatures across the East Coast will remain below average through most of next week.—
Mirna Alsharif,
NBC news,
31 Jan. 2026
-
In a binary system, the two stars usually differ slightly in mass and move along stretched, elliptical paths.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nominally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominally. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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