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Synonyms

if only

Idioms  

  1. I wish that. For example, If only I had known you were coming I would have met your plane, or If only it would snow on Christmas Eve. [c. a.d. 1000] For a synonym, see would that.

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.

Elisha waited, pleading, and pacing the parlor until Mrs. Walter convinced Maggie to see the man, if only to make him leave.

From Literature

If Labour manage to win, even if only by a smidgen, it will be a huge psychological boost for Sir Keir Starmer after a particularly rough start to 2026 for him.

From BBC

But Nvidia is now in the odd position of having to play elder statesman, if only to temper some of the wilder views about AI.

From The Wall Street Journal

If only the pixies would show me a mound of gold in the earth, then maybe it wouldn’t matter that I was small.

From Literature

If only I had set a bucket of dirt by my bed.

From Literature

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.