How to use merely in a sentence
40 example sentences · adverb
Merely means without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more. Example: “The word "advisedly" has a connotation of "wisely", although it denotes merely "intentionally" and "deliberately."”
Examples of merely by meaning
adverbWithout any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more.
- Some merely dislike 'em.1951 October, Bruce Hayden, “Of Cabbageheads and Kings”, in Chess Review
More sentences with merely
- The word "advisedly" has a connotation of "wisely", although it denotes merely "intentionally" and "deliberately."From the entry connotation
- They tried to colour the industrial unrest as a merely local matter.From the entry color
- This match is merely a friendly, so don't worry too much about it.From the entry friendly
- That sculpture is not merely artistic, but also functional: it can be used as a hatrack.From the entry functional
- We hoped the speech would include reassurances, but instead it was merely one bromide after another.From the entry bromide
- This opinion, however, is merely a surmise, which may or may not be the case.From the entry surmise
- Many people in Hollywood were blacklisted merely because they were suspected of Communist sympathies.From the entry sympathy
- Welsh is merely a vulnerable language, but Irish and Scottish Gaelic are definitely endangered.From the entry vulnerable
- The concept turned out to be merely a flash in the pan and is no longer used.From the entry flash in the pan
- This new healthcare proposal merely applies a bandage to the current medical crisis.From the entry bandage
- Noticeably, what had been merely annoying to her was becoming infuriating.From the entry noticeably
- This act was not merely wrong; it was clearly done with malice aforethought.From the entry aforethought
- The roadside stand did a good business just selling products to people who merely wanted directions.From the entry roadside
- My GP gave me the once-over and said it was merely a cold.From the entry once-over
- At one time were bison on the American plains not merely abundant but superabundant: they seemed inexhaustible.From the entry superabundant
- The Orthodox consider the bishop of Rome to have always been merely a first among equals.From the entry first among equals
- The great ironists do not merely use irony: they live ironically.From the entry ironist
- Some of those attributes are merely instantial, whereas others are truly generic.From the entry instantial
- It wasn't merely a murder scene — it was a house of horrors.From the entry house of horrors
- Having autism is merely one form of neurodifference; being gifted and talented is another form of neurodifference.From the entry neurodifference
- Merely two fishes for information told the whole story.From the entry fish
- The interviewee merely parroted the views of her tabloid.From the entry parrot
- I shall not swish; I'll merely act limp-wristed.From the entry swish
- The whole conversation was merely a deceit.From the entry deceit
- This model merely nips at the margins.From the entry margin
- The self-described psychic was merely using cold reading.From the entry cold reading
- Using the sophisticated code was useless since the spy merely stole the plain text from the waste basket.From the entry plain text
- David is a showman above all else. His showroom is more than merely a sales floor: it is a spectacle.From the entry showman
- Don't take it personally if your editor imposes the Oxford comma — it's merely an aspect of house style.From the entry house style
- He soon became not merely tipsy, but embarrassingly drunk.From the entry embarrassingly
- These are "partial artifacts", if you will: the imaging process has merely amplified flaws that were already present in the original.From the entry if you will
- The judge in the parable granted the widow's suit merely because she lay upon him, and was troublesome to him.From the entry lie upon
- In this case, therefore, the linearoid system of invariant differential equations is merely the linearoid transform of a linear system.From the entry linearoid
- Having autism is merely one way of being neurodifferent; being gifted and talented is also a way of being neurodifferent.From the entry neurodifferent
- A content fork may be intentional (as from a schism about goals) or unintentional (merely from a lack of reorganizing, so far).From the entry fork
- We have not merely an abundance, but a superabundance of enemies at this time; they will need to stand in line to disagree with us.From the entry superabundance
- The unmortared wall of bricks would be easy to dismantle, merely requiring backs strong enough to lift the bricks and enough time to do it.From the entry unmortared
- The United States cannot acquire jurisdiction tortiously or by disseisin of the state, or by occupancy with merely the tacit consent of the state.From the entry disseisin
- The company’s use of ads depicting gay couples appears to be merely tokenistic, particularly in view of the support it has given to anti-LGBT politicians.From the entry tokenistic
Meaning of merely
- adverb Without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more.
- adverb Wholly, entirely.
Questions about merely in a sentence
- How do you use merely in a sentence?
- Merely is used as an adverb. For example: “The word "advisedly" has a connotation of "wisely", although it denotes merely "intentionally" and "deliberately."”
- What is a short sentence with merely?
- “Some merely dislike 'em.”
- What does merely mean?
- Merely means without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: merely (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this page: “How to use merely in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/merely. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
