solely
Americanadverb
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as the only one or ones.
solely responsible.
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exclusively or only.
plants found solely in the tropics.
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merely.
She wanted solely to get out of the house for a while.
adverb
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only; completely; entirely
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without another or others; singly; alone
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for one thing only
Etymology
Origin of solely
Explanation
Solely is another word for "only" or "entirely": Your new puppy is solely your responsibility — you have to feed it, walk it, and take care of it all by yourself. Solely comes from the Latin sola, the feminine form of "alone," and if you know other Romance languages, you'll recognize it in, for instance, Italian solo, or Spanish solamente and French seulement. In English, a solo is a song you sing alone.
Vocabulary lists containing solely
"Shooting an Elephant"
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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5.4: The Second Industrial Revolution (Sources 1–8)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Putting so many resources solely into repression, with ever more police, doesn't work," Fournier told the BBC.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
More than ever, in the age of AI and robotics, it is no longer possible to rely solely on the ‘invisible hand’ of the market.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
Ask your banker whether the CDs are owned solely by your father, jointly with one or more children, held in the revocable trust, or set up with payable-on-death beneficiaries.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
"For around 10 years, free-ranging snake research almost solely focused on Oo. We wanted to evaluate snake health on a more comprehensive level and really establish a broader view," Mishin said.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
Daddy grins at me throughout breakfast—which we have as a family as often as possible—and I’m able to focus on the conversation solely because it centers on my game tonight: our last district matchup.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
