as in chiefly
for the most part
the tourists were principally concerned with the quantity of the food, and only secondarily with the quality
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of principally
The evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI have principally spurred this rising use of AI.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Jhonatan’s story echoes that of many Colombian fighters, driven by a sense of duty, but shaped principally by economic insecurity that makes enlisting abroad a more viable and lucrative option.
—Rebecca Johns, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
While the gang has principally focused on human trafficking and other crimes targeting migrants, it has also been linked to extortion, kidnapping, money laundering and drug smuggling, according to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
In their place, video-first talk formats have triumphed, with podcasting now principally looking more like daytime radio or, for that matter, television.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
That meant himself and Edu, principally, and Marinakis, too, as the man who could never have foreseen this drama when the Brazilian, formerly Arsenal’s sporting director, was announced in his new role on July 7.
—Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Jhonatan’s story echoes that of many Colombian fighters, driven by a sense of duty, but shaped principally by economic insecurity that makes enlisting abroad a more viable and lucrative option.
—Rebecca Johns, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
While the gang has principally focused on human trafficking and other crimes targeting migrants, it has also been linked to extortion, kidnapping, money laundering and drug smuggling, according to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2025
In their place, video-first talk formats have triumphed, with podcasting now principally looking more like daytime radio or, for that matter, television.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2025
That meant himself and Edu, principally, and Marinakis, too, as the man who could never have foreseen this drama when the Brazilian, formerly Arsenal’s sporting director, was announced in his new role on July 7.
—Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for principally
Adverb
-
This reflected higher capital expenditure in the period, Dunelm said, chiefly due to acquisition activity.—
Royston Wild,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
-
This unusual chemical process is confined chiefly around the comet's head, not its tail.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
In November and December, the above normal fire risk is mainly confined to southern California.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
14 Sep. 2025
-
People mainly wanna talk to me about that.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
13 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
But 10 days into our Patagonian adventure, a little water—okay, a lot of water—wasn’t enough to deter us from heading out on a Zodiac tour around the Tucker Islets, a small cluster of islands and outcrops in the Strait of Magellan inhabited primarily by Magellanic penguins.—
Stefanie Waldek,
AFAR Media,
12 Sep. 2025
-
Much of the world's launch capacity today is used to deploy smaller communications satellites into low-Earth orbit, primarily for broadband connectivity rather than for the video broadcast market once dominated by higher-altitude geosynchronous satellites.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Kiko mostly bypassed the Hawaiian islands with its fiercest winds, as so many storms have before, and will instead fade off into the Pacific Ocean over the vast western end of the island chain that remains a mystery to many.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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The upside, however, to sitting through this questionable season of what has been a mostly dreamy series?—
Vogue,
Vogue,
11 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
The talk show host had not revealed his children's names and has largely kept their faces off of social media.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
13 Sep. 2025
-
And largely that is replaced with people on devices or on video games.—
Don Riddell,
CNN Money,
13 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Also included are funds for predominantly Black institutions and Native American-serving institutions, which are colleges that educate a large share of Black or Native students, but are not designated by the government as historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs) or tribal colleges.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Charitable care systems began when hospitals were led by nuns who predominantly cared for the sick and poor.—
Megan Garnai,
IndyStar,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Principally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/principally. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
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