barely

[bair-lee]

adverb

1. only just; scarcely; no more than; almost not.

   He had barely enough money to pay for the car.

2. without disguise or concealment; openly.

   They gave the facts to him barely.

3. scantily; meagerly; sparsely.

4. Archaic.,  merely.

barely

/ ˈbɛəlɪ /

adverb

1. only just; scarcely

   barely enough for their needs

2. informal,  not quite; nearly

   barely old enough

3. scantily; poorly

   barely furnished

4. archaic,  openly

Usage

See hardly.

Word History and Origins

Origin of barely¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English bærlīce; bare ¹, -ly

Example Sentences

If earlier incarnations of Hedda didn’t dare defy social rules when she was white and straight, being Black and queer adds so much additional peril that the script barely needs to say out loud.

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He remained stoic throughout the game, barely reacting to any plays as he missed a season opener for the first time in his career.

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It felt like we barely got to know them at all before the reveal because there was just too much ground to cover with all the key players.

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Poitras takes viewers inside Hersh’s process: the notebooks crammed with barely decipherable shorthand, the Rolodexes packed with names and numbers, the long calls coaxing sources to talk.

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He barely showed up, not taking his second shot until late in the second quarter and scoring on only three treys.

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Related Words

• almost 
• hardly 
• scarcely