Literary notes about merely (AI summary)
Writers use "merely" to downplay or limit a state, action, or quality to its simplest or most basic form. It often functions to reduce a notion in emphasis, as when a task is described as just a part of one’s duty [1] or an act is portrayed as minimal and provisional [2, 3]. The word serves to highlight that something is nothing more than a particular aspect or to underscore that only a small quantity is involved, as seen when a title is dismissed as insignificant [4] or a quality is simply descriptive without suggesting comparison [5]. In this way, "merely" becomes a powerful rhetorical tool to contrast what is presented with what might have been expected, subtly reshaping the reader’s perception of importance and scope [6, 7].
- Mr. Evarts enjoyed his visit but this was merely a part of the private secretary's day's work.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams - In the hurry of the moment we had merely fastened fetters around Narvaez's legs; but Sandoval now, ordered him to be better secured.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) by Bernal Díaz del Castillo - After a few moments, in which he reviewed nothing, but merely hesitated, he turned the gas on again, but applied no match.
— from Sister Carrie: A Novel by Theodore Dreiser - “I believe, mother, it is merely a title.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - It merely describes the quality, without expressing or suggesting any comparison.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - At first our pupil had merely sensations, now he has ideas; he could only feel, now he reasons.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau - But it was not merely the physical conditions of environment that had caused the change.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
