primarily
Americanadverb
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essentially; mostly; chiefly; principally.
They live primarily from farming.
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in the first instance; at first; originally.
Primarily a doctor, he later became a lawyer.
adverb
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principally; chiefly; mainly
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at first; originally
Etymology
Origin of primarily
Explanation
Primarily means "for the most part." If in the summer, you primarily work at a restaurant, this is the thing you do most, though you also might hang out with friends, exercise, and read books. You can use the adverb primarily any time you'd use the word "mainly" — today, many people rely primarily on the Internet to get their news. This doesn't mean they never read newspapers or watch television news, but most of the time, they learn about current events online. The Latin root of primarily is primus, which means first — most important, most likely, or what you choose before anything else.
Vocabulary lists containing primarily
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 3
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 2
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The ACT: The Language of the Test, List 2
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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.
They found that developing joints consisted primarily of structural cells rather than immune cells.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 5, 2026
That one works primarily with families of children ages 3 to 5.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
The high rate of failure is primarily down to drugs not working as well in large, diverse human populations as they do in smaller early tests, or because they reveal unexpected safety hazards.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Lisa Herrick, a clinical psychologist who lives primarily in Washington, D.C., inherited the key to a beach in Aquinnah from her parents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Therefore the government volcanologists called in to monitor and forecast St. Helens’s behavior primarily had seen only Hawaiian volcanoes in action, and they, it turned out, were not the same thing at all.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
