Standard Lemma guide

simply

adv · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈsɪmpli/
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Texas: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • New-Zealand: /ˈsəmpli/
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH1 M P L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

In a simple way or state; considered in or by itself; without addition; alone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: manner

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: complexly

2

adv

Meaning 2

Plainly; without art or subtlety

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: manner

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clearly, obviously, unquestionably

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Foolishly; stupidly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: manner

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adv

Meaning 4

Merely; solely.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: focus

Examples

  • I was simply asking a question.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: just, barely, but, literally, merely, no more than, nothing but, only, simply

Antonyms: none provided

5

adv

Meaning 5

absolutely, positively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: degree

Examples

  • That was a simply wonderful dessert.
  • This type of comportment simply won't be tolerated.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: very, above a bit, absolutely, sorely, bone, abundantly, all too, but good, completely, damn, eminently, ever so, exceedingly, excessively, extremely, flipping, freaking, fucking, greatly, highly, in spades, jolly, main, mightily, murrain, passing, positively, pretty, quite, really, right, simply, somewhat, sore, specially, strongly, swith, truly, vastly, very much, way, way too, wicked, wickedly

Antonyms: none provided

6

adv

Meaning 6

Frankly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Simply, he just fired you.
  • It was, quite simply, the best there was in stock.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: honestly, above a bit, actually, all things considered, as a matter of fact, by right, certainly, come to think of it, de facto, definitely, de jure, fact is, forsooth, frankly, in actuality, in all honesty, indubitably, in fact, in faith, in point of fact, in reality, in truth, indeed, legitimately, literally, not gonna lie, properly, really, right, simply, soothfast, soothly, surely, to be frank, to be honest, TBH, to tell the truth, truly, truthfully, undoubtedly, verily, very much, wis

Antonyms: none provided

7

adverb

Meaning 7

and nothing more

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: merely, just, only, but

Antonyms: none provided

8

adverb

Meaning 8

absolutely; altogether; really

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • we are simply broke

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adverb

Meaning 9

in a simple manner; without extravagance or embellishment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she was dressed plainly
  • they lived very simply

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: plainly

Antonyms: none provided

10

adverb

Meaning 10

absolutely

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: just

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English symply, symplely; equivalent to simple + -ly, with *-lely simplified to -ly by haplology.

Across languages

Translations

53 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بِكُلّ بَسَاطَة (bikull basāṭa) — in a simple manner
  • Basque: apalki — in a simple manner
  • Bulgarian: просто (prosto) — in a simple manner
  • Catalan: simplement — in a simple manner
  • Catalan: senzillament — in a simple manner
  • Czech: jednoduše — in a simple manner
  • Danish: slet og ret — in a simple manner
  • Esperanto: simple — in a simple manner
  • Finnish: yksinkertaisesti — in a simple manner
  • French: simplement — in a simple manner
  • Galician: simplemente — in a simple manner
  • German: einfach — in a simple manner
  • Greek: απλά (aplá) — in a simple manner
  • Ancient Greek: ἁπλῶς (haplôs) — in a simple manner
  • Hungarian: egyszerűen — in a simple manner
  • Icelandic: einfaldlega — in a simple manner
  • Italian: semplicemente — in a simple manner
  • Italian: in parole povere — in a simple manner
  • Japanese: 単に (tanni) — in a simple manner
  • Latin: simpliciter — in a simple manner
  • Lithuanian: tiesiog — in a simple manner
  • Malayalam: ലളിതമായി (laḷitamāyi) — in a simple manner
  • Norman: sîmpliément — in a simple manner
  • Norwegian: rett og slett — in a simple manner
  • Norwegian: ganske enkelt — in a simple manner
  • Norwegian: intet mindre enn — in a simple manner
  • Norwegian Bokmål: simpelthen — in a simple manner
  • Polish: po prostu — in a simple manner
  • Portuguese: simplesmente — in a simple manner
  • Russian: про́сто (prósto) — in a simple manner
  • Serbo-Croatian: naprosto — in a simple manner
  • Slovene: preprosto — in a simple manner
  • Spanish: simplemente — in a simple manner
  • Spanish: sencillamente — in a simple manner
  • Swedish: helt enkelt — in a simple manner
  • Tamil: சும்மா (cummā) — in a simple manner
  • Tamil: வெறுமனே (veṟumaṉē) — in a simple manner
  • Turkish: basitçe — in a simple manner
  • Bulgarian: само (samo) — merely, solely
  • Finnish: vain — merely, solely
  • Hungarian: csak — merely, solely
  • Hungarian: csupán — merely, solely
  • Hungarian: mindössze — merely, solely
  • Latin: modo — merely, solely
  • Latin: sōlum — merely, solely
  • Plautdietsch: blooss — merely, solely
  • Polish: po prostu — merely, solely
  • Russian: просто (prosto) — merely, solely
  • Russian: только (tolʹko) — merely, solely
  • Russian: попросту (poprostu) — merely, solely
  • Spanish: simplemente — merely, solely
  • Tamil: சும்மா (cummā) — merely, solely
  • Turkish: sadece — merely, solely
Real reading context

simply in complete knowledge articles