Meanings
- focusnot comparableWithout any other reason etc.; only, just, and nothing more.First known use 16th c.
But let us not be unfair to the kibitzers. Not all players hate 'em. Some merely dislike 'em.
1951 October, Bruce Hayden, “Of Cabbageheads and Kings”, in Chess Review2 more examples
All these people, who have tried to set you against me out of envy and love of slander – and some too merely passing on what they have been told by others – all these are very difficult to deal with.
1954, Plato, translated by Hugh Tredennick, “Socrates on Trial: The Apology”, in The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics), Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, →OCLC, page 20Merely sniffing this stuff [cheese] fulfills one’s minimum daily fat requirement; actually eating it is the main cause of holiday season hospital visits.
1994 December 18, Donn Esmonde, “Before slathering on the cheese sauce, here’s some advice”, in The Buffalo News, final edition, Buffalo, N.Y., →ISSN, →OCLC, page E-1, column 1 - not comparableobsoleteWholly, entirely.First known use 16th–20th c.
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.
1644, John Milton, Areopagitica1 more example
I am sorry to say, that I doubt if there is a judge in Massachusetts who is prepared to resign his office, and get his living innocently, whenever it is required of him to pass sentence under a law which is merely contrary to the law of God.
1854, Henry David Thoreau, Slavery in MassachusettsSynonyms: exclusively, purely, alone, entirely, exclusively, expressly, only, purely
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbWholly, entirely.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishmereli
- Englishmerely
From Middle English mereli, equivalent to mere + -ly.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μόνον
- μόνον (mónon)only, just, and nothing more
Arabic بِالْكَاد
- بِالْكَاد (bi-l-kād)only, just, and nothing more
Catalan merament, simplement
- meramentonly, just, and nothing more
- simplementonly, just, and nothing more
Chinese Mandarin 只是, 只不過 /只不过
- 只是 (zhǐshì)only, just, and nothing more
- 只不過 /只不过 (zhǐbuguò)only, just, and nothing more
- 僅僅 /仅仅 (jǐnjǐn)only, just, and nothing more
Czech pouze
- pouzeonly, just, and nothing more
Dutch alleen, louter
- alleenonly, just, and nothing more
- louteronly, just, and nothing more
- slechtsonly, just, and nothing more
- enkelonly, just, and nothing more
Esperanto nur
- nuronly, just, and nothing more
Finnish vain, ainoastaan
- vainonly, just, and nothing more
- ainoastaanonly, just, and nothing more
- pelkästäänonly, just, and nothing more
French simplement, uniquement
- simplementonly, just, and nothing more
- uniquementonly, just, and nothing more
- seulementonly, just, and nothing more
German bloß, lediglich
- bloßonly, just, and nothing more
- lediglichonly, just, and nothing more
- nuronly, just, and nothing more
- schieronly, just, and nothing more
Hebrew רק
- רק (rak)only, just, and nothing more
Hungarian csak, csupán
- csakonly, just, and nothing more
- csupánonly, just, and nothing more
- pusztánonly, just, and nothing more
- mindösszeonly, just, and nothing more
- egyedülonly, just, and nothing more
Italian soltanto, solamente
- soltantoonly, just, and nothing more
- solamenteonly, just, and nothing more
- meramenteonly, just, and nothing more
- semplicementeonly, just, and nothing more
Japanese 単に, ばかり
- 単に (tanni)only, just, and nothing more
- ばかり (bakari)only, just, and nothing more
- ただ (tada)only, just, and nothing more
Korean 한낱, 그저
- 한낱 (hannat)only, just, and nothing more
- 그저 (geujeo)only, just, and nothing more
- 단지 (danji)only, just, and nothing more
Latin sōlum, modo
- sōlumonly, just, and nothing more
- modoonly, just, and nothing more
Polish tylko, jedynie
- tylkoonly, just, and nothing more
- jedynieonly, just, and nothing more
- jenoonly, just, and nothing more
- inoonly, just, and nothing more
Portuguese meramente, somente
- meramenteonly, just, and nothing more
- somenteonly, just, and nothing more
Romanian doar, abia
- doaronly, just, and nothing more
- abiaonly, just, and nothing more
Russian то́лько, про́сто
- то́лько (tólʹko)only, just, and nothing more
- про́сто (prósto)only, just, and nothing more
- лишь (lišʹ)only, just, and nothing more
- всего́-на́всего (vsevó-návsevo)only, just, and nothing more
Spanish meramente, mere
- meramenteonly, just, and nothing more
- mereonly, just, and nothing more
Swedish bara
- baraonly, just, and nothing more
Turkish sadece, yalnızca
- sadeceonly, just, and nothing more
- yalnızcaonly, just, and nothing more
Ukrainian лише́, ті́льки
- лише́ (lyšé)only, just, and nothing more
- ті́льки (tílʹky)only, just, and nothing more
- про́сто (prósto)only, just, and nothing more
Vietnamese chỉ, đơn thuần
- chỉonly, just, and nothing more
- đơn thuầnonly, just, and nothing more
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with merely
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
merely. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merely
“merely.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merely. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “merely,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/merely.
Source: merely on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.