Definitions

first of all

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first off adv.
principally adv.

ADVERB

first off

Synonyms

WEAK

first thing firstly foremost immediately in the first place primo up front

ADVERB

principally

Synonyms

STRONGEST

basically chiefly first and foremost generally importantly largely mostly notably particularly predominantly

STRONG

primarily

WEAK

above all before anything else cardinally dominantly eminently especially essentially for the most part fundamentally in the first place in the main materially peculiarly preeminently prevailingly prevalently substantially superlatively supremely to a great degree universally vitally

Antonyms

WEAK

secondarily trivially

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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first of all

“I would say that when I heard about it, first of all, I was amazed because I view him as a high-quality person. I’ve known him for a long time,” Trump said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 9, 2026

As economist Thomas Piketty put it in “A Brief History of Equality,” published in 2022: “Inequality is first of all a social, historical, and political construction.”

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

"When you say that it will be the end of the human civilisation, first of all, it's not true," he told a conference organised by his company in Berlin.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

When you’re out in the country, first of all, there’s no traffic.

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

“Okay, first of all, it wasn’t two hundred and fifty dollars. It was on sale.”

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

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