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.
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 Justice Department said Phoenix police frequently treated children no different than adults and escalated interactions with them, an issue that the department did not initially set out to investigate.
—
Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 23 June 2024
Cops have made no arrests but were initially looking for a suspect bleeding from the head who has a distinctive tattoo of a signature on his forearm, according to emergency radio transmissions.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 23 June 2024
Baradaran recalled how she and her younger sister were mistakenly placed into a Spanish-speaking classroom at their elementary school in Van Nuys because neither initially spoke English.
—Jie Jenny Zou, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2024
The 92nd was called the Buffalo Division, after a name initially given to African American soldiers who served in the western United States in the late 1800s.
—Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post, 23 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for initially 
Miguel Torres, The Arizona Republic, 23 June 2024
Cops have made no arrests but were initially looking for a suspect bleeding from the head who has a distinctive tattoo of a signature on his forearm, according to emergency radio transmissions.
—John Annese, New York Daily News, 23 June 2024
Baradaran recalled how she and her younger sister were mistakenly placed into a Spanish-speaking classroom at their elementary school in Van Nuys because neither initially spoke English.
—Jie Jenny Zou, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2024
The 92nd was called the Buffalo Division, after a name initially given to African American soldiers who served in the western United States in the late 1800s.
—Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post, 23 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for initially
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'initially.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Initially.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initially. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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