mere

The word “mere” means nothing more than; only, and nothing else — used to play down the size or importance of something. In plain terms, used to emphasize how small, ordinary, or unimportant something is.

“Mere” is pronounced meer (/mɪɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “mere” used in a sentence: “It took a mere five minutes to finish the whole test.”

Words with a similar meaning to “mere” include alone, bare, just, only, simple and very.

The opposite of “mere” — its antonyms — is total.

Depending on how it is used, “mere” can be an adjective and a noun.

The word “mere” comes from Latin. From Old French mier, from Latin merus ("pure, undiluted") — the same root gives us the sense of "nothing but, simply.".

“Mere” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

Both play down importance, but "mere" comes directly before a noun to belittle it, as in "a mere child," while "only" is more flexible and can modify verbs, adjectives, or nouns. "Mere" adds a stronger note of dismissiveness.

"Mere" is placed directly before a noun to stress that something is nothing more than what is named, downplaying its size or importance, as in "a mere formality" or "the mere mention of it." It suggests the thing is trivial or smaller than expected.

No. In its "only" sense, "mere" is used attributively, meaning it must come directly before the noun it modifies. You can say "a mere detail," but not "the detail is mere."