无非 (nothing but / merely)

Just the usual excuses

• Your manager has heard your colleague's reasons for being late many times before.
• he他tāvariant of 说说shuō(modifier / structural particle)的demerely无非wú fēiis是shìtraffic jam堵车dǔ chē、to rain下雨xià yǔthese这些zhè xiēreason理由lǐ yóu。 — "What he says is nothing but the usual excuses — traffic, rain."

merely无非wú fēi (is是shì) + content = nothing but, merely

• merely无非wú fēi says something is no more than the ordinary items mentioned: merely无非wú fēiis是shì, merely无非wú fēiwants想xiǎng.
• It often has a dismissive tone: "it's just …".

he他tāmerely无非wú fēiis是shìwants想xiǎngmore多duōearn赚zhuàna bit点儿diǎnrmoney钱qián。

Summing up the obvious

• everyone大家dà jiāto discuss讨论tǎo lùn(modifier / structural particle)的demerely无非wú fēiis是shì两个liǎng gèproblem问题wèn tí：(concept of) time时间shí jiānand / with和hémoney钱qián。 — "What everyone discussed boiled down to two issues: time and money."
• he他tālike this这么zhè medoes it做zuò，merely无非wú fēiis是shìwants想xiǎngattract引起yǐn qǐattention注意zhù yì。 — "He's doing it merely to attract attention."

he他tālike this这么zhè medoes it做zuò，merely无非wú fēiis是shìwanting想xiǎngattract引起yǐn qǐattention注意zhù yì。

Ordinary, limited content

merely无非wú fēi versus is only只是zhǐ shì and but不过bú guò

• is only只是zhǐ shì / but不过bú guò = only, just (neutral).
• merely无非wú fēi = nothing more than, often summarising and slightly dismissive.

this这zhèis only只是zhǐ shìa一个yí gèsmall小xiǎoproblem问题wèn tí。

Recap

Read the full reference: HSK 6 grammar — Adverbs.