MERELY


Meaning of MERELY in English

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

You use ~ to emphasize that something is only what you say and not better, more important, or more exciting.

Michael is now ~ a good friend...

They are offering ~ technical assistance.

= just, simply

ADV: ADV with cl/group, ADV before v emphasis

2.

You use ~ to emphasize that a particular amount or quantity is very small.

The brain accounts for ~ three per cent of body weight.

= only

ADV: ADV amount emphasis

3.

You use not ~ before the less important of two contrasting statements, as a way of emphasizing the more important statement.

The team needs players who want to play cricket for England, not ~ any country that will have them...

PHRASE: PHR with cl/group, PHR before v emphasis

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .