chiefly

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃiːf.li/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːfli

Etymology 1

From Middle English chefly; equivalent to chief +‎ -ly (adverbial suffix).

Adverb

chiefly (comparative more chiefly, superlative most chiefly)

1. (focus) Especially or primarily; above all.

   Their relationship is chiefly professional.

   This is a term chiefly used by online gamers.

   • 1975 July 7, Ben A. Franklin, “MANDEL INQUIRY STIRS MARYLAND”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     But questions presisted^[sic], chiefly because of the acknowledged and continuing Federal investigation of Mr. Mandel's wealthy friends, W. Dale Hess and Harry W. Rogers 3d, who have profited from business with the state.

2. (focus) Mainly or principally; almost entirely.

Synonyms

• (above all): first and foremost, particularly; see also Thesaurus:above all
• (almost entirely): by and large, for the most part, largely; see also Thesaurus:mostly

Translations

especially or primarily; above all — see also especially,‎ primarily,‎ above all,‎ especially,‎ particularly

• Finnish: eritoten (fi)
• Hungarian: főleg (hu), főként (hu), főképp (hu), főképpen (hu)
• Polish: przede wszystkim (pl)
• Spanish: mayormente (es), máxime (es)

mainly or principally, almost entirely — see also mainly,‎ principally

• Albanian: kryesisht (sq)
• Arabic: غَالِبًا (ḡāliban)
• Armenian: գլխավորապես (hy) (glxavorapes), հատկապես (hy) (hatkapes)
• Bulgarian: главно (bg) (glavno), предимно (bg) (predimno)
• Catalan: principalment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主要地 (zh) (zhǔyào de)

• Czech: hlavně (cs)
• Dutch: voornamelijk (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉefe (eo)
• Finnish: pääosin, suurimmaksi osaksi, pääasiassa (fi), etupäässä (fi), pääasiallisesti (fi), pitkälti (fi)
• French: surtout (fr)
• German: hauptsächlich (de)
• Greek: κυρίως (el) (kyríos)

  Ancient Greek: μάλιστα (málista), ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ (hōs epì tò polú)

• Hungarian: nagyrészt (hu), jórészt (hu)
• Italian: principalmente (it)
• Japanese: おもに (ja) (omo ni), 主に (ja) (おもに, omo ni)
• Korean: 주로 (ko) (juro)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hovedsakelig (no), primært, for det meste

• Occitan: principalament
• Plautdietsch: hauptsechlich
• Polish: głównie (pl)
• Portuguese: principalmente (pt), especialmente (pt)
• Romanian: mai ales, mai cu seamă, îndeosebi (ro), în principal
• Russian: гла́вным о́бразом (ru) (glávnym óbrazom) more literary and official, в основно́м (v osnovnóm) (mainly); осо́бенно (ru) (osóbenno) (especially); пе́рвоочерёдно (pérvoočerjodno) rare, literary, в пе́рвую о́чередь (v pérvuju óčeredʹ) (primarily, first and foremost)
• Swedish: huvudsakligen (sv), företrädesvis (sv), i synnerhet (sv)
• Ukrainian: в основно́му (uk) (v osnovnómu), головни́м чи́ном (uk) (holovným čýnom), особли́во (osoblývo), в пе́ршу чергу́ (v péršu čerhú)
• Yiddish: דער עיקר (der iker)

Etymology 2

From chief +‎ -ly (adjectival suffix). Piecewise doublet of chefly and headly.

Adjective

chiefly (comparative chieflier, superlative chiefliest)

1. Of or relating to a chief.
   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 261:

     The maintenance of a perpetual fire came to be associated with chiefly or royal dignity.

Derived terms

• unchiefly