marginally

[ mahr-juh-nl-ee ]

adverb

1. by a minimal, insignificant, or almost insufficient amount:

   This student routinely submits work of substandard or marginally acceptable quality.

   Pork exports in May were marginally higher compared with the previous year.

2. at a barely adequate level:

   The shelter offers shower and laundry facilities for homeless and marginally housed adults.

3. in the margin of a page:

   It is obvious that Jack London read these books, as they are marked, underlined, and marginally annotated.

4. on the border of something:

   On the wings of butterflies, marginally located contrastive markings create false edges, helping to decrease detection by predators.

Other Words From

• su·per·mar·gin·al·ly adverb
• trans·mar·gin·al·ly adverb
• un·mar·gin·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of marginally¹

marginal ( def ) + -ly

Example Sentences

If hitchhiking was marginal before the virus, now the idea of letting a stranger into the car seems utterly outlandish.

From Washington Post

So my tax rate is pretty much the highest federal marginal rate.

From ProPublica

What’s more, currently marginal use cases such as notifying you about nearby friends could become dominant.

From Search Engine Land

There was also a marginal increase in particulate matter in 59 other counties without early shutdowns, but the findings were not conclusive.

From ProPublica

For clarity, our simple analysis is different than the cost-per-vote metric used by some campaign strategists, which is the likelihood of changing an election outcome with a marginal vote.

From Quartz

Democrats faired marginally better in the study, ringing in at 31 percent.

From The Daily Beast

Yet, Arkansas had been marginally healthier than the states surrounding it.

From The Daily Beast

Those drugs cost around $5,000 a week but are only marginally effective.

From The Daily Beast

There are other survivors who live in marginally better conditions.

From The Daily Beast

Tempted by the second helping of cake, the only-marginally-reduced Jimmy Choos, or the bouncy intern who really “gets” you?

From The Daily Beast

Wandering marginally through distinguished gatherings, I would catch the whispers: "That's Mr. Ponderevo!"

From Project Gutenberg

Such quotations of places to be marginally set down as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another.

From Project Gutenberg

The less useful (marginally viewed) is traded for the more useful.

From Project Gutenberg

He was chewing on an unlit cigarette, a disgusting habit that was only marginally less gross than smoking them.

From Project Gutenberg

Such Quotations of Places to be marginally set down, as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• kind of
• lightly
• somewhat