merely

adverb

mere·​ly ˈmir-lē 

: nothing more than : only

was merely trying to help

… no boy wanted to be on record as considering a girl a major fox only to discover that she considered him merely cool.

—Richard Russo

Not merely decorative, the crisscrossing slats and fins variously filter light and provide privacy.

—Rob Haskell

Many merely desire a pleasant afternoon perusing the exhibitions in their local gallery.

—Launt Thompson

Many of the deep-sea fishes, for example, have pathetically weak skeletons and terribly flabby bodies—in extreme cases they are the consistency of gelatin and seem to be composed merely of mouth and stomach.

—Tim Flannery

… because of technology what in the past would have taken days took merely hours.

—Lee Child

Synonyms

• but
• just
• only
• purely
• simply

Examples of merely in a Sentence

the outside noise was merely a raccoon knocking over the garbage can

Recent Examples on the Web

Game of Pets poses the question: What if life on Earth is merely a board game being played by giant animals whose avatars happen to be . . . —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 18 Mar. 2025

The pandemic, while a catalyst for change, merely accelerated existing trends and exposed underlying vulnerabilities. —Pablo Listingart, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

The question is whether UM will be shopping for a starting defensive tackle or merely depth in a month. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 17 Mar. 2025

Others do less, content merely to reheat leftovers to populate digital eshop storefronts. —Hayes Madsen, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely

Rhymes for merely

• austerely
• severely
• sincerely
• cavalierly
• clearly
• dearly
• nearly
• queerly
• yearly