mere‧ly S3 W2 / mɪəli $ mɪrli / 副词

1 used to emphasize how small or unimportant something or someone is 同义词 only :

He’s merely a boy – you can’t expect him to understand.

2 used to emphasize that nothing more than what you say is involved 同义词 just :

We’re merely good friends.

He merely shrugged and walked away.

3 not 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.