merelymere‧ly /ˈmɪəli $ ˈmɪrli/ ●●○ W2 adverb 
He’s merely a boy – you can’t expect him to understand.2used to emphasize that nothing more than what you say is involved SYN just: We’re merely good friends. He merely shrugged and walked away.3not merely/rather than merely used before the less important of two ideas in a sentence to emphasize the more important idea: It’s not merely a matter of cost, but whether she’s old enough to go on holiday alone. It’s important to write these goals down, rather than merely think about them.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- As Foreman became angrier and angrier, Paula merely smiled.
- He was merely a boy! I wouldn't have expected him to understand.
- I wondered if the girl had meant more to him than being merely a casual friend.
- The committee does not blame any individual; we are merely trying to find out how the accident happened.
- The President's position is merely ceremonial; it is the Chancellor who holds real power.
- Today people want more from working life than merely a paycheck.
- You are not there to teach, but merely to supervise the children.
- But both companies' increase in money sales merely matched the six-fold increase in the retail prices index over the 20 years.
- Control was merely the essential prerequisite to constructive administration.
- If you merely mean some sort of intuitive intelligence, then I hope I am psychic.
- So it is possible that the difference between Mill and Bentham here is merely apparent.
- The Speaker calls upon the Minister in charge who merely stands up and nods.
- Unless managers see the control process through to its conclusion, they are merely monitoring performance rather than exercising control.
- You don't have to finish first in each race, merely in the leading group.
Longman Language Activatornot particularly important, special, or interesting
use this to emphasize that someone or something is not particularly important, special, or interesting: · Don't ask me - I'm only the cleaner.· "What's for dinner?" "Just pasta - nothing exciting."only/just another: · It's just another one of those daytime talk shows.
formal use this to emphasize that someone or something is not really important or special, although they may seem to be: · The President's position is merely ceremonial; it is the Chancellor who holds real power.· I wondered if the girl had meant more to him than being merely a casual friend.
only that, and not anything more important, more valuable, or more useful: · She sees him as a friend and nothing else.if nothing else: · If nothing else the meeting serves as a useful way of getting everyone's ideas together.
only - used especially when you do not expect very much from the thing you are describing, or you think it is unimportant: · How can you expect him to understand? He's a mere child.· There have been reports that she is going to resign, but it's mere speculation at the moment.· The mere mention of Ronan's name made her heart beat faster.
use this about someone or something that is not nearly as good, special, interesting etc as they seem to be or pretend to be: · They say they're a moral, religious regime, but in fact they're nothing but a bunch of bullies and thugs.· As far as I can see, this proposal is no more than an attempt to disguise many of the mistakes management have made in the past.
for one reason only and no other for only one reason or purpose, and not for any others - use this especially when explaining why someone does something: · She only married him for his money.· Ms Walker said she only started stealing because her children were hungry.
especially spoken only - use this when explaining why someone does something: · I think she just wanted someone to talk to.· I didn't mean to interfere - I was just trying to help.just because: · Just because he looked at them in the wrong way, they beat him up and stole his money.
formal use this to emphasize that you are doing something only for the reason you say, and not for any other reason, especially when someone seems annoyed or upset: · The committee does not blame any individual; we are merely trying to find out how the accident happened.· You are not there to teach, but merely to supervise the children.
for one reason or purpose only, and not involving anything else: · What we have is a purely business arrangement.· Most plants are planted purely for decoration.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Getting a gun license here seems to be just a formality.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB
1used to emphasize how small or unimportant something or someone is SYN only: Getting a gun license here seems to be just a formality.· Profit figures become merely amounts which can be spent without impairing initial capital invested.· The purely theoretical becomes the truly real, and that which is experienced as real becomes merely an illusion.· When politics invades religion, legality becomes merely emblematic.· Big failures are held in check by becoming merely small failures at the next highest level on a hierarchy.· But at what point in the isolation of elements does a person become merely a mad torso with head attached?· Most Contemporaries will not make the transition; they will merely become dated and irrelevant and will eventually go out of print.· Though all this may sound complicated, after the first year's practice it becomes merely routine.· They merely became more discerning in the façade they showed to the public.
· If you merely mean some sort of intuitive intelligence, then I hope I am psychic.· In other cases, however, inadequacy merely means that we have not go as much as we would have liked.· Longer hours, indeed, would merely mean more unsold coal.· It means merely that where the trustee was in possession of the property under trust, he could be ordered to make it over.· A hefty victory merely meant that the opposition were too weak.· This does not mean merely that correctness of translation is undetermined by all the possible data.· Education is about ends, not merely means.· Kant is opposed to treating humans as merely means to an end.
· This, of course, might merely reflect the actual flattening effect which information technology appears to have on organisational structures anyway.· Crime and Punishment did not merely reflect or even confirm that strange and removed elsewhere, the world journalists write about.· It merely reflects the implementation of a programme laid down much earlier.· These differences merely reflect the current balance of locus of academic activity and the obviously higher unit costs of hospital infrastructure.· If targets are too simple they merely reflect current behaviour.· Gone are the days when the, existence of a signed building contract merely reflected a formality required by prudent businessmen.· It accounts for the way in which goods not merely reflect distinction, but are an instrument of it.· Usually diplomatic services and foreign offices in this respect merely reflected the societies they served.
· There were plenty of others below it, but they merely served as points of interest on the way down.· The receivables merely serve as collateral in the event of default.· This too may merely serve to let the situation spiral out of control.· The objects serve merely as a medium for permitting the construction to occur.· But the case of Auerbach merely serves to illustrate how ill-founded the criterion is.· This week a poll in Newsweek merely served to underscore this picture.· Christmas has merely served to highlight the deficiencies of some businesses-great website, shame about the delivery.· Such statistics can serve merely to overwhelm one with a sense of futility.
· I merely want the information upon which I can decide whether refurbishment can go ahead.· You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best.· I merely want you to perform an experiment.· I merely want to describe the blow that a child can feel on losing a beloved baby-sitter.· When hostilities began he merely wanted the regime to behave dynamically.· These are not, you have to believe, the cynically high-minded ravings of a politician who merely wants to get re-elected.· Perhaps he merely wanted the signal to be read in that way.· He merely wanted me to know he had been identified and that the police had attempted an interview.
He’s merely a boy – you can’t expect him to understand.2used to emphasize that nothing more than what you say is involved SYN just: We’re merely good friends. He merely shrugged and walked away.3not merely/rather than merely used before the less important of two ideas in a sentence to emphasize the more important idea: It’s not merely a matter of cost, but whether she’s old enough to go on holiday alone. It’s important to write these goals down, rather than merely think about them.