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

As things stand, that would be enough via the present UEFA coefficient to secure Champions League football for 2025-26, but Newcastle are looking up and hunting down those above them rather than merely defending their own position. —Chris Waugh, The Athletic, 4 Jan. 2025

Trump has repeatedly claimed that his threat to implement heavy tariffs—even against close allies such as Mexico and Canada—is merely an attempt to set the pace for potential negotiations over any number of issues, such as fentanyl. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 3 Jan. 2025

Sometimes, what appears to be change is merely an anomaly. —Padmakumar Nair, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2025

Even as this revelation casts a retrospective light on many of the movie’s plot points (such as László’s obsession with the details of his design for Harrison’s grand project), it merely gets tossed out, even tossed off. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 3 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1580, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing merely

• not just/only/merely
• not merely