marginally
Americanadverb
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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.
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at a barely adequate level.
The shelter offers shower and laundry facilities for homeless and marginally housed adults.
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in the margin of a page.
It is obvious that Jack London read these books, as they are marked, underlined, and marginally annotated.
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on the border of something.
On the wings of butterflies, marginally located contrastive markings create false edges, helping to decrease detection by predators.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of marginally
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.
Mantel disagrees, saying Inside Safe and other homeless housing efforts are marginally effective and only “tinkering around the edges of the problem.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Despite persistent tensions in the Middle East, expenditure in the region rose only marginally, by 0.1 percent, to $218 billion.
From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026
While the service sector recovered, new business rose only marginally.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026
Second-from-bottom Burnley are marginally better off, but not by much.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
Lazlo had only marginally more experience with cake than Sarai did, so this was one of the things they made up between them “however they liked.”
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
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.
