adverb
Etymology: mere (IV) + -ly
1. obsolete : without admixture : purely
2. : to the full extent : entirely , quite , wholly
it becomes surprising that … one could have been so merely engrossed — Oliver La Farge
3. : no more than : barely , only , simply , solely
went past the bounds of bohemianism to the verge of the merely sordid — New Yorker