initially

adverb

ini·​tial·​ly i-ˈni-sh(ə-)lē How to pronounce initially (audio)
: at the beginning : at first
The reason I initially came here was to find work.
It turned out that the situation was not as serious as we had initially believed.
Initially, the symptoms are mild.

Examples of initially in a Sentence

we initially intended to rebuild our hurricane-damaged home from the ground up
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On Monday, April 14, Knowles posted an adorable video to Instagram in which her brows initially look very bold—but that's only because Carter is applying a tint. Marci Robin, Allure, 15 Apr. 2025 The game's main story begins the day after the dance, meaning players initially only hear about what happened there through dialogue. Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2025 Meta’s legal team added that many creators were initially skeptical of Instagram Reels, a product launched in response to TikTok, because short-form videos tended to monetize significantly less than longer traditional videos. Beatrice Peterson, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2025 The lawsuit was initially filed against Meta — then called Facebook — in 2020, during Mr. Trump's first term, before being amended in 2021. Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for initially

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of initially was circa 1628

Cite this Entry

“Initially.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initially. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on initially

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!