initially

adverb

ini·​tial·​ly i-ˈni-sh(ə-)lē 

: at the beginning : at first

The reason I initially came here was to find work.

It turned out that the situation was not as serious as we had initially believed.

Initially, the symptoms are mild.

Synonyms of initially

• originally

Examples of initially in a Sentence

we initially intended to rebuild our hurricane-damaged home from the ground up

Recent Examples on the Web

Lina Souloukou, the chief executive officer, stepped down from her role on June 5, after initially being appointed in January last year. — Paul Taylor, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Despite being one of Africa’s largest oil producers, the Dangote Refinery initially struggled to secure enough domestic crude and had to turn to international suppliers at a premium. — Nana Menya Ayensu, semafor.com, 7 Sep. 2026

A day later, state media reported the damage was not as bad as initially feared. — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2026

While the system was initially developed around aerial robotics, extending it to ground platforms could help XTEND create a more unified ecosystem in which operators can manage different robotic assets through common tools and workflows. — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for initially

• judicially
• officially
• artificially
• beneficially
• prejudicially
• superficially
• unofficially