as in chiefly
for the most part
the tourists were principally concerned with the quantity of the food, and only secondarily with the quality
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of principally
Of course, bringing the Robertson story to life through that brilliant and vivid sound and music, but principally through incredibly in-depth character interviews.
—
Kathleen Rellihan, Outside, 28 Dec. 2025
Located just 480 light years from Earth, this reflection nebula, known as the Taurus Molecular Cloud, is illuminated principally by the three bright stars in the center of the image.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 18 Dec. 2025
Experienced cooks will know that this matters, and not principally for feeding hungry mouths sooner.
—New Atlas, 27 Nov. 2025
That’s to quash electromagnetic noise—principally coming from power lines—that invariably gets picked up by the coils.
—David Schneider, IEEE Spectrum, 25 Nov. 2025
Besides studying dark matter and dark energy, one of Roman's core surveys will be the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, in which millions of stars in the central bulge of the Milky Way galaxy will be studied, principally to look for exoplanets.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 24 Nov. 2025
The film will shoot next year — principally in Mexico City, with additional photography in Spain.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 11 Nov. 2025
That’s where his vote came from, principally, and the progressive left — these kids have come up through the public school system.
—Ryan Mancini, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2025
Liege Airport, used principally as a cargo hub, was also closed due to drone sightings, an airport spokesperson said.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for principally
Adverb
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The performance is forceful enough for this Bug to operate chiefly as a character study.—
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They can be summoned via the third-party app Honk, which chiefly is used by tow truck operators to find stranded customers.—
Adverb
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The group, mainly millennials and young Gen Xers, grew up in the internet era and recognize how technology can switch up the status quo.—
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The Western Apache were mainly foragers and hunters, Roos said.—
Adverb
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The commission primarily opens inquiries in response to tips – and bigger investigations can often take years to complete.—
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Calhoun pointed to 1982, when the penny’s composition became primarily zinc with a touch of copper.—
Adverb
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Minnesota is also reeling from the ongoing billion-dollar fraud scandal, in which federal prosecutors say nearly 100 suspects, mostly immigrants from Somalia, stole taxpayer money by billing the state for nutrition, housing and behavioral health services that never actually happened.—
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For those who go above their hours, Garden City paid out $305,000 in overtime in 2025, mostly for public works and law enforcement employees.—
Adverb
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While the company largely stays out of the headlines, Applecart has a leading place in an emerging but discreet cohort of companies and organizations aimed at reaching key figures in industry and government.—
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Zoey Deutch stars in the film as the actress Jean Seberg opposite a largely French cast, including Guillaume Marbeck as Breathless filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard.—
Adverb
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The valley has a predominantly Hispanic population.—
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The overwhelming majority of the students are economically disadvantaged and predominantly Hispanic, TEA data shows.—
Cite this Entry
“Principally.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/principally. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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