initially
adverb
ini·tial·ly
i-ˈni-sh(ə-)lē 
: 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
The board’s attorney initially said CRTPO couldn’t back out of the agreement after that deadline.
—
Charlotte Observer, 29 Apr. 2026
Nicknamed by German media after a beach in Timmendorfer, near the Baltic island where the whale was initially stranded, the creature was first spotted in low-saline waters, which whales usually avoid, Reuters reported.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
Skewering everything from leftist factional infighting to religious zealotry, the movie follows Brian (Graham Chapman), born in the same stable as Jesus and initially mistaken for him.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 29 Apr. 2026
But social mobility in this dog-eat-dog environment comes at a high price, one the benevolent Rastignac is initially unwilling to pay.
—Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for initially
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Charlotte Observer, 29 Apr. 2026
Nicknamed by German media after a beach in Timmendorfer, near the Baltic island where the whale was initially stranded, the creature was first spotted in low-saline waters, which whales usually avoid, Reuters reported.
—Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2026
Skewering everything from leftist factional infighting to religious zealotry, the movie follows Brian (Graham Chapman), born in the same stable as Jesus and initially mistaken for him.
—David Faris, TheWeek, 29 Apr. 2026
But social mobility in this dog-eat-dog environment comes at a high price, one the benevolent Rastignac is initially unwilling to pay.
—Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for initially
Cite this Entry
“Initially.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/initially. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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