PRINCIPALLY Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

principally

adverb

as in chiefly

for the most part the tourists were principally concerned with the quantity of the food, and only secondarily with the quality

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 principally The biggest beneficiaries of Gulf defense spending in recent years have been Western allies, principally the US. —

Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 13 Apr. 2026 Both are principally manufactured by TSMC. —

Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2026 Virginia state agencies would no longer and principally state police, as the largest of the state law enforcement agencies, would no longer put their police officers, their troopers, under the supervision and direction of ICE agents. —

Mike Stunson, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026 The story is principally set early in 1965, on the stark desert island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz. —

Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026 But the job of mayor of a big city like Chicago is principally a management task. —

The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026 To ramp up solar power even faster than Cuba did last year, LeoGrande said other countries, principally China, would have to be willing to double or more their provision of such equipment. —

ABC News, 16 Mar. 2026 Rising electricity prices are being driven principally by rising prices for fossil fuels, especially natural gas. —

Liz Krueger, New York Daily News, 12 Mar. 2026 The lawsuit notes that Lipari, as well as the individuals principally involved in Lipari Brothers’ operations, are white. —

Robert A. Cronkleton march 5, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for principally

Adverb

Those rules are chiefly set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, which since 1994 has served as the foundational treaty establishing global legal standards for ocean usage, resource management, and maritime jurisdictions.

— Charlie Campbell, Time, 16 Apr. 2026
The prosecution continued to verify with Yaro further evidence collected at the time of Horner's arrest, which chiefly involved the clothes collected from him at the jail.

— Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026