How to Use if only in a Sentence

if only

phrase
  • Some of the rest of us might have imagined it, if only because Alpert clearly has the best shot of any of us of living forever.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 7 July 2026
  • Still, Coffin is fine inviting them into the big tent with the rest of us, if only to show where the Hollywood blockbuster machine can find its next gear.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Still, if only there were a way to capture a fraction of that processing power, the carbon footprint of computing could meaningfully shrink.
    — New Atlas, 2 July 2026
  • Adding three McDonald’s All-Americans should go a long way with this team as well, if only because there will be real talent at the back end of the rotation.
    — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026
  • The likeliest quarterfinal is Spain, if only the Americans can get there by beating Bosnia and then, most likely, Belgium.
    — Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 28 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'if only.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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