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Definition of "merely" []

  • And nothing else or more; only: merely a flesh wound. (adverb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "merely" in a sentence
  • "The husband and father fell dead in the street before our eyes, -- and those who picked him up said he was drunk, but it turned out that he was merely starved, -- _merely_!"
  • "Externals, things wholly extraneous of the man, steal upon the hearts and judgments of almost, if not altogether, all mankind; nor do I know more than one instance of a man who fully regards all the world as a stage and all the men and women merely players, and who (the dancing-school bow excepted) only values these players, the _dramatis personæ_ who build cities and who rear hedges, who govern provinces or superintend flocks, _merely as they act their parts_."
  • "My suspicion is that the label merely wanted an album that large numbers of people might like, and they did not think such a desire precluded the band from making an album that was valid."