chiefly

English

Etymology

From Middle English chefly; equivalent to chief +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtʃiːf.li/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -iːfli

Adverb

chiefly (comparative more chiefly, superlative most chiefly)

(focus) Especially or primarily; above all.
Their relationship is chiefly professional.
This is a term chiefly used by online gamers.
(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

Finnish: eritoten (fi)
Hungarian: főleg (hu), főként (hu), főképp, főképpen (hu)
Polish: przede wszystkim (pl)
Spanish: principalmente (es), sobre todo, particularmente (es), especialmente (es)

mainly or principally, almost entirely

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, pääasiallisesti (fi), pitkälti (fi)
French: surtout (fr)
German: hauptsächlich (de)
Greek: κυρίως (el) (kyríos)
Ancient: μάλιστα (málista), ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολύ (hōs epì tò polú)
Hungarian: nagyrészt (hu), jórészt
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)
Spanish: principalmente (es)
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)

Adjective

chiefly (comparative chieflier, superlative chiefliest)

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.