Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use principally in a sentence

35 example sentences · adverb

Principally means in a primary manner; pertaining to the principal of a matter. Example: “When asked to guess whether champagnes they were drinking was made principally from white or black grapes, most tasters including wine writers and journalists were unable to tell the difference.”

Examples of principally by meaning

adverbIn a primary manner; pertaining to the principal of a matter.

  • When asked to guess whether champagnes they were drinking was made principally from white or black grapes, most tasters including wine writers and journalists were unable to tell the difference.2013 November 29, Nick Collins, “Even Champagne experts blind to grape varieties”, in The Telegraph
  • Pollination by animals, principally insects and birds, is widespread among plants.2019 March 13, “Nature Talk looks at avian pollinators”, in New Zealand Herald, archived from the original on 14 Mar 2019

More sentences with principally

  • Tribal names are less contentious, though the word “tribe” itself is used principally in the United States.2011, Harry Swain, Oka: A Political Crisis and Its Legacy, page xii. From the entry Kanienkehaka
  • The following weblinks refer principally to organisations that operate in the UK.2008, John F. Morgan, The invisible man: a self-help guide for men with eating disorders, compulsive exercise and bigorexia. From the entry weblink
  • Neither is Louis's unhappiness principally because of his lack of vampire colleagues.2008, Charles Pinches, Jay B. McDaniel, Good News for Animals?: Christian Approaches to Animal Well-Being, →ISBN, page 130. From the entry vampirehood
  • This attempt to Namierise a regional class of Methodist business-men shows principally two things.2006, David Jeremy, Religion, Business and Wealth in Modern Britain, page 69. From the entry namierise
  • This causation may be principally of two kinds, "distant" and "contactive".2002, Masayoshi Shibatani, The Grammar of Causation and Interpersonal Manipulation, page 11. From the entry contactive
  • Glucosinolates are a group of plant thioglucosides found principally among members of the Cruciferae.1991, Alan J. Duncan, “Chapter 6: Glucosinolates”, in J. P. Felix D'Mello, C. M. Duffus, John H. Duffus, editors, Toxic Substances in Crop…. From the entry glucosinolate
  • In orthodox chemistry, the chemist is concerned principally with the contents of acts of chemical understanding.1988, William J. Danaher, Insight in chemistry, page 141. From the entry metachemistry
  • This last mentioned consideration involves the concept in Community law (derived principally from German law) called "proportionality".[1983 January 20, Lord Diplock [i.e., Kenneth Diplock, Baron Diplock]; Lord of Appeal in Ordinary; House of Lords, “Regina, respondent…. From the entry use a sledgehammer to crack a nut
  • Particle size distributions of fallback and ejecta were determined principally by mechanical sieving and weighing.1970, Nuclear Science Abstracts, page 3595. From the entry fallback
  • These communities lay in a number of districts but principally in Kuei-hsien and Kuei-p’ing in southern Kwangsi.[1970, Philip A. Kuhn, Rebellion and Its Enemies in Late Imperial China, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN…. From the entry Gui Xian
  • I think that is what we principally object to, a continuous layerization of authorities.1970, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. Subcommittee on Employment, Manpower, and Poverty, Manpower…. From the entry layerization
  • It deals principally with the two dirtiest commodities known to man—pigs and coal.1940, Nicol Smith, Burma Road, Garden City, NY: Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, pages 136–137. From the entry Kochiu
  • An obsession with designer handbags, at ever-spiralling prices, became a phenomenon of the mid-noughties, driven principally by Louis Vuitton.2009, Brenda Polan, Roger Tredre, The Great Fashion Designers, page 237. From the entry noughties
  • The nation 'Nationwide', like the inhabitants of Duckburg, seems to be principally concerned with the process of consumption.2005, Charlotte Brunsdon, David Morley, The Nationwide Television Studies, →ISBN. From the entry Duckburg
  • Intellectuals are principally yang: one must tonify the yin.1994, Georges Soulié de Morant, Paul Zmiewski, Chinese Acupuncture, →ISBN, page 79. From the entry tonify
  • Rural people are principally yin: one must tonify the yang.1994, Georges Soulié de Morant, Paul Zmiewski, Chinese Acupuncture, →ISBN, page 79. From the entry tonify
  • The rights of the suzerain State over the vassal are principally international rights, of whatever they may consist.1920–1921, L[assa Francis Lawrence] Oppenheim, edited by Ronald F. Roxburgh, International Law: A Treatise, 3rd edition, volume I (Peace)…. From the entry suzerain
  • Now that the Imperial Body Guard was to be principally engaged to the south of Teckcham (Hsinchu) H.I.H.1903, James W. Davidson, editor, The Island of Formosa Past and Present, page 331. From the entry Hsinchu
  • The shapes of the pottery on the other hand seem to be classic forms and principally the same as the ostrogothic Kiev-forms.2004, Ingemar Nordgren, “Description of the Known History of the Goths”, in The Well Spring of the Goths: About the Gothic Peoples in the…. From the entry comfortability
  • She continued her university studies by taking a paper in psychology, which was taught principally by John Money, a strikingly handsome young junior lecturer.2002, Michael King, An Inward Sun: The World of Janet Frame, Penguin Books (New Zealand). From the entry paper
  • The aldehydic top notes contain suggestions of bergamot, lemon, peach and coriander and give way to a heart based principally on rose, jasmine and orris.1997, N. Groom, editor, New Perfume Handbook, page 188. From the entry aldehydic
  • The population of Tsing Yi consisted principally of fishermen and farmers, who lived in a few villages along the northern coast of the island.1993, Ng Hang Sau, “Mobilizing Tsing Yi Residents Against Environmental Hazards”, in Cecilia Chan, Peter Hills, editors, Limited Gains…. From the entry Tsing Yi
  • If this were so, he argues the left hemiliver would be deprived of depatotrophic factors, thought to come principally from the pancreas.1987, Roderick N. M. MacSween, Pathology of the Liver, page 12. From the entry hemiliver
  • Gordon, too, carried plenty in his hands, but principally he went for his heart's sake, and that will take a man to altaltissimo.1912, W[illiam] H[enry] Williamson, The Stolen Bride, Boston, M.A.: Dana Estes & Company, page 103. From the entry altaltissimo
  • In the main, this circumspective aspect of morality is a relational affair, principally between the agent and at least two persons or parties other than the agent.2014, John Laird, An Enquiry into Moral Notions, page 306. From the entry circumspective
  • Clinton and I became peripherally involved with a pair of Leckford Road girls who, principally sapphic in their interests, would arrange for sessions of group frolic.2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22. From the entry sapphic
  • The Los Angeles Basin evolved as a mobility surface principally through the combination of an initial system of electric railways connecting a scatter of agricultural settlement settlements.2006, Theano S. Terkenli, Anne-Marie d'Hauteserre, Landscapes of a New Cultural Economy of Space, Springer Science & Business Media…. From the entry scatter
  • Indeed, the calcedon seems principally intended as a reinforcement to the cello: where the cello and keyboard parts differ from one another, the calcedon goes with the bowed instrument.1995, Daniel R. Melamed, “Performance questions in Bach's Trauerode”, in Bach Studies 2, page 139. From the entry calcedon
  • Consequently, the early Chinese settlers in Siam were principally merchants from Chʻüan-chou prefecture in southern Fukien and Canton in Kwangtung, who were connected with the Siamese tributary trade.1977, Sarasin Viraphol, Tribute and Profit: Sino-Siamese trade, 1652–1853, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 40. From the entry Ch'üan-chou
  • That means we do have principally speaking a number of options for the essentially unlimited supply of energy; coal, solar, and nuclear being the most prominent ones.1977, United States House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, quoting Wolf Haefele, European Oversight Trip: Report of…. From the entry terawatt-year
  • The Hsiang dialect is spoken principally in Hunan and resembles to some extent the southwestern Mandarin; in this group the number of tones varíes from six to seven.1962 February, Ch’u Chai, Winberg Chai, “The Chinese Language”, in The Changing Society of China, Mentor Books, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 170. From the entry Hsiang
  • These difficulties arise principally as a consequence of the rapid drag rise and the loss of lift that causes serious stability changes when the wing shock-stalls.1948 August, John Stack, W. F. Lindsey, “Summary”, in Characteristics of Low-aspect-ratio Wings at Supercritical Mach Numbers (National…. From the entry shock stall
  • The household uses of copper are principally for cooking utensils and a variety of miscellaneous items, such as urns, bowls, hods, lamps, candlesticks, vases, book ends, and ash trays.1938, Raymond B[artlett] Stevens et al., “Copper Utensils and Hollow or Flat Plate”, in Trade Agreement between the United States and the…. From the entry hod

Meaning of principally

  1. adverb In a primary manner; pertaining to the principal of a matter.

Full definition of principally

Questions about principally in a sentence

How do you use principally in a sentence?
Principally is used as an adverb. For example: “When asked to guess whether champagnes they were drinking was made principally from white or black grapes, most tasters including wine writers and journalists were unable to tell the difference.”
What is a short sentence with principally?
“Intellectuals are principally yang: one must tonify the yin.”
What does principally mean?
Principally means in a primary manner; pertaining to the principal of a matter.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: principally (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 principally in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/principally. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.