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

The project, named the Narla Residence, initially was designed by a different architect and received backing from the La Jolla Community Planning Association. —Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Nov. 2025

Powell initially tweaked the groin early in Friday’s win over the Bulls in Chicago, briefly exiting the contest with what the Heat labeled as a left groin strain before returning to finish that game. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 Nov. 2025

Lewis initially considered Sony Venice and Arri Alexa Mini cameras but found those setups either technically incapable of lasting an hour or too cumbersome. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Nov. 2025

The trek initially began in North American arenas before Scott sold out California’s SoFi Stadium and then took over stadiums in Europe. —Michael Saponara, Billboard, 24 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for initially

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