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
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
Olson is now the Wolverines’ leading scorer and rebounder, despite nominally playing guard.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Blue Ghost operated nominally for two weeks thereafter as planned, becoming the first private spacecraft ever to complete a lunar surface mission.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Even in the nominally slow movement, which McKay managed to make both songful and and buoyant, this is happy music.
—Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026
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
Olson is now the Wolverines’ leading scorer and rebounder, despite nominally playing guard.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
Blue Ghost operated nominally for two weeks thereafter as planned, becoming the first private spacecraft ever to complete a lunar surface mission.
—Mike Wall, Space.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Even in the nominally slow movement, which McKay managed to make both songful and and buoyant, this is happy music.
—Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News, 18 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nominally
slightly
Adverb
-
Embrace the slightly dystopian vibe and buy a bag of pellets from one of the old-timey pioneer stores to hand-feed the furry descendants.—
Zoey Goto,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
-
By combining strontium doping and oxygen tuning, the team produced many slightly different versions of the material.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Nominally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nominally. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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