mentally
adverb
men·tal·ly
ˈmen-tᵊl-ē 
1
: in the mind
Mentally he promised himself that he would never again use a collar on any living creature.—
Brian Jacques
: using the mind
Brian Jacquesable to mentally calculate large sums
2
: with regard to the mind or its capacity
physically and mentally healthy people
a mentally competent adult
a mentally challenging activity
… if you try to hide the fact that you feel mentally inadequate, and so go around making jokes about your own dullness and acting as if it didn't bother you at all …—David Foster Wallace
David Foster WallaceI felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.—Rick Riordan
Rick RiordanExamples of mentally in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With painterly narration, Mulligan whisks the audience (mentally) back to The Unsleeping City, a story first explored in 2019.
—Eric Francisco, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025
She’s last shown breaking down mentally in front of a mirror.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 28 Feb. 2025
Dear, 66, has admitted to killing three people and wounding nine others during a mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs in 2015, but the criminal proceedings against him have been on hold for years as he has been consistently found to be too mentally ill to stand trial.
—Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2025
Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss starred in what was a romantic comedy in a police setting, with Foxworth as a possibly mentally ill Russian LAPD officer who falls into a relationship with his partner, played by Prentiss.
—Carmel Dagan, Variety, 28 Feb. 2025
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Eric Francisco, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025
She’s last shown breaking down mentally in front of a mirror.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 28 Feb. 2025
Dear, 66, has admitted to killing three people and wounding nine others during a mass shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs in 2015, but the criminal proceedings against him have been on hold for years as he has been consistently found to be too mentally ill to stand trial.
—Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2025
Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss starred in what was a romantic comedy in a police setting, with Foxworth as a possibly mentally ill Russian LAPD officer who falls into a relationship with his partner, played by Prentiss.
—Carmel Dagan, Variety, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mentally
Cite this Entry
“Mentally.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentally. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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