mere
/mɪə̯/adjective, noun, verb
mere is spelled M-E-R-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “meer vs mere” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, mere means “Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mere?
| Letters | 4: M-E-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is mere?
Mere appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mere?
- UK /mɪə̯/
- British /mɪː/
- British /mɪjə/
Mere has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-mere.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mere.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mere2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with mere
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with mere?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as mere from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: meer, reem, erme.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of mere
- merer comparative
- merest superlative
- meres plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- meer
- meere
- mear
- meare
- mering participle, present
- mered participle, past
- mar
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mere mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Just, only; no more than, pure and simple, neither more nor better than might be expected.
The mere thought of pineapple on pizza makes me want to throw up.
- 2
obsoletePure, unalloyed .
- 3
obsoleteNothing less than; complete, downright .
noun
- 1
Boundary, limit; a boundary-marker; boundary-line.
- 2
obsoleteSynonym of sea, a large body of salt water.
- 3
obsoleteSynonym of inlet, an arm of the sea.
- 4
UKA body of standing water, inclusive of lakes, ponds, and pools, especially any broad and shallow one.
- 5
UKSynonym of marsh.
- 6
A Maori war-club.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo limit; bound; divide or cause division in.
- 2
obsoleteTo set divisions and bounds.
- 3
To decide upon the position of a boundary; to position it on a map.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mere in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense just, only; no more than:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mere come from?
From Middle English mere, mer, from Anglo-Norman meer, from Old French mier, from Latin merus (“pure, unmixed, undiluted”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to sparkle, gleam”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).