Merely

//ˈmɪɹli// adv

adv ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    Without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more. focus, not-comparable

    "But let us not be unfair to the kibitzers. Not all players hate 'em. Some merely dislike 'em."

  2. 2
    Wholly, entirely. not-comparable, obsolete

    "It is not forgot, since the acute and distinct Arminius was perverted meerly by the perusing of a namelesse discourse writt'n at Delf, which at first he took in hand to confute."

Adverb
  1. 1
    and nothing more wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
onlybutonlysimplyafter a fashionalone

Example

More examples

"Instead she merely looked surprised and - could it be - amused."

Etymology

From Middle English mereli, equivalent to mere + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.