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.
Takeover speculation could still push the stock higher, but L&G has said it is focused solely on executing its strategy, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Cakrani said Shehu’s involvement was solely as a landlord.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
It added: "The ruling relates solely to two individual content creators."
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
To date, most of these popular peptides have been available solely in unregulated online marketplaces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
By focusing solely on Yakov’s death yet hinting at the disappearances of other boys, he had left the article open-ended like a penny dreadful.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
