1
[ adverb ] and nothing more

Synonyms

just only merely but

Examples

"I was merely asking" "it is simply a matter of time" "just a scratch" "he was only a child" "hopes that last but a moment"

Used in print

([Anonymous,] "The Attack on Employee Services"...)

Too many plant officials are all_too eager to buy a package program from an insurance_company simply because it works for another plant .

(Philip Reaves, "Who Rules the Marriage Bed?"...)

They consider it simply a sign of our times .

Or a wife may make sudden demands that she be courted , flattered or coaxed , simply because she needs her ego lifted .

(The Rev. John A. O'Brien, "Let's Take Birth Control...)

The Church considers this to be the method provided by nature and its divine Author : It involves no frustration of nature 's laws , but simply an intelligent and disciplined use of them .

(Barry Goldwater, "A Foreign Policy for America"...)

Only the vain and incurably sentimental among us will lose sleep simply because foreign peoples are not as impressed by our strength as they ought to be .

Related terms

bare bare bare

2
[ adverb ] (intensifier) absolutely

Synonyms

just

Examples

"I just can't take it anymore" "he was just grand as Romeo" "it's simply beautiful!"

Used in print

(William G. Pollard, Physicist and Christian....)

Science has simply left us helpless and powerless in this important sector of our lives .

(Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)

Can the church risk assuming that the `` folly '' of men is as dear to God as their `` wisdom '' , or , as is also commonly implied , that `` the foolishness of God '' and `` the foolishness of men '' are simply two ways of talking_about the same thing ?

(Bonnie Prudden, "The Dancer and the Gymnast"...)

For most small children , learning a forward roll is simply a matter of copying another child who can .

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

This , plus the habit of many schools of simply adding interior_design to the many subjects of their home_economics department , yet , nevertheless , claiming that they teach interior_design , has contributed to the low repute of many university courses in interior_design .

(Jay C. Harris and John R. Van Wazer, "Detergent...)

No matter how they are formulated , a large_number of organic actives are simply not suitable for this application , since they do not give adequate soil removal .

Related terms

intensifier

3
[ adverb ] absolutely; altogether; really

Examples

"we are simply broke"

Used in print

(87th Congress, 1st Session. Congressional Record....)

We simply can n't tolerate further Russian weapons , including the possibility of long-range nuclear missiles , being located in Cuba .

4
[ adverb ] in a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment

Synonyms

plainly

Examples

"she was dressed plainly" "they lived very simply"

Used in print

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

Yet even here many_a problem is presented ; as in a recent design competition with a floor_plan and the simple command - `` design a luxury apartment '' ; no description of the client or his cultural level , no assertion of geographical_area or local social necessities - simply `` a luxury apartment '' .

(Brand Blanshard, "The Emotive Theory," Robert...)

In these circumstances , since what was expressed by the remark when first made is , on the theory before us , simply absent , the remark now expresses nothing .

(Evan Esar, Humorous English; a guide to comic ,...)

Evidently Bill was another of those men who simply do n't understand women .

*