Word.ws English Dictionary

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

  1. adverb Without any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more.
  2. adverb Wholly, entirely.

Full definition of merely

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.

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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.