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

The house must have belonged to an important member of local society, the park added, with the bath complex lending itself to important occasions for the owner to secure an electoral consensus, promote the candidacy of family or friends, or merely display their social status. —Amarachi Orie, CNN, 17 Jan. 2025

The Bills are merely in a far better position on Sunday to put up more resistance to one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. —Joe Buscaglia, The Athletic, 17 Jan. 2025

For example, Jane’s connection with Amber ends up feeling merely instrumental to her own journey — as do the many interactions with her sister, her parents and even her crush. —Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025

The risk of Surrealistic cinema is that its main inventions are conceptual—creating the wildness on the page and merely executing it on the screen. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely