marginally

American  

[mahr-juh-nl-ee] / ˈmɑr dʒə nl i /

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.

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Other Word Forms

• supermarginally adverb
• transmarginally adverb
• unmarginally adverb

Etymology

Origin of marginally

marginal ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Industry traffic fell last year, and overall visits are expected to creep up marginally this year, according to market-research firm Technomic.

From The Wall Street Journal

—The dollar recovered only marginally after reaching a one-and-a-half-week low overnight on concerns about the selling of U.S. assets.

From The Wall Street Journal

—Bitcoin recovers only marginally after reaching a 15-month low late Tuesday on the back of a selloff in software and data company stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal

This is a bleak comedy of a stalled-out creative life, about a middle-aged man whose lifelong literary ambition, only marginally fulfilled, has left him looking like a failure, even a fool.

From The Wall Street Journal

The German software giant’s 2026 revenue outlook points to a limited growth acceleration and is marginally below consensus expectations, Citi says in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• kind of
• lightly
• somewhat