PRINCIPALLY Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

principally

adverb

Definition of principally

as in chiefly

for the most part the tourists were principally concerned with the quantity of the food, and only secondarily with the quality

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of principally This rising use of AI has principally been spurred by the evolving advances and widespread adoption of generative AI and LLMs such as ChatGPT, GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and others. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026 Massachusetts should examine whether programs operating under the banner of victim services remain principally accountable to victims. — Laurie Myers, Boston Herald, 26 Aug. 2026 Hawk is burning principally toward the northeast; warnings are in place in California’s Sierra County but no evacuation has been ordered there. — Bay Area News Group, Mercury News, 24 Aug. 2026 Arsenal and Galatasaray have been in dialogue over several players, principally Martinelli — but there are no active negotiations over a potential transfer for Osimhen. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026 Trade along the route remains tiny compared with major throughways like the Suez Canal and is dominated by Russian oil and gas, which – along with a few other LNG buyers in Asia – principally flow to China. — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026 Some Hoodoo practitioners have begun calling themselves witches, reflecting the increasingly positive reassessment of that term, which historically referred principally to practitioners of occult harming practices. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Aug. 2026 Those difficulties are especially acute across Chocó, one of Colombia’s poorest departments, where many small and dispersed communities are connected principally by rivers and waterways rather than roads. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 14 Aug. 2026 But the Guard is principally built and trained to fight wars abroad. — Steven Beynon, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for principally

Adverb

Many of the dozens missing in its environs were foreign nationals, chiefly Indian or Indian-origin pilgrims who were returning from, or preparing to make, the journey further into Tibet to Mount Kailash, a holy site for Hindus and Buddhists.

— Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
Today, other drugs are more often deployed, chiefly benzodiazepines or the benzodiazepine Clonazepam, which also render a person zombie-like and more reliably submissive.

— Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of chiefly

Adverb

Done with a cheek swab, blood draw or saliva sample, this testing mainly looks at liver enzymes that affect how the body metabolizes medicines.

— Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026
It’s mainly centered on Billie, who is worried about an old Facebook post standing in the way of finding a job.

— Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of mainly

Adverb

Summary The Toronto Blue Jays are struggling to meet high expectations this season, primarily due to the unexpected offensive slump of star Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Diamondback Energy Mehta is also bullish on Diamondback Energy, an independent oil and natural gas company focused on energy reserves that are primarily in the Permian Basin in West Texas.

— TipRanks.com Staff, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of primarily

Adverb

Details of the contract have been mostly kept secret, as both companies said the agreement contained confidential business information.

— Sydney Sasser, Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2026
Decades later, buses helped desegregate schools, hauling Black and white children across the country’s racial divide, a controversial practice that has mostly ended.

— Jeff McMurray, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of mostly

Adverb

In the beginning, the team largely focused on fatal drunk-driving cases, Cherney said.

— Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2026
Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, Texas is moving away from a system that based special education funding largely on where and how students received services.

— Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of largely

Adverb

Two years later, Wong became one of the key leaders of the city’s Umbrella Movement protests that rallied thousands of predominantly young people to the streets to call for greater democracy by blocking major thoroughfares for 79 straight days.

— Chris Lau, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
If the night had ended after that soaring anthem, few in the heavily female and predominantly middle-aged crowd could have complained.

— Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of predominantly

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principality

principally

principals

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“Principally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/principally. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of principally

adverb

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