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.
The band cited it as the reason behind postponing its Las Vegas Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM - initially scheduled for March 28 to April 19, 2025 - to September 2025. Marina Watts, People.com, 5 Apr. 2025 Delaney was initially scheduled to appear in court but was released because prosecutors found insufficient grounds to file a complaint against the television star. Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 4 Apr. 2025 Related article Mistaken deportations stoke concerns over Trump’s aggressive immigration push The US placed El Salvador under Temporary Protected Status designation in 2001, initially due to environmental disaster following two earthquakes. Polo Sandoval, CNN Money, 4 Apr. 2025 When the deadline for such a sale initially arrived earlier this year, American TikTok users had the hallucinatory experience of losing access to the app … for 14 hours. Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 4 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 13 Apr. 2025.

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