barely
Americanadverb
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only just; scarcely; no more than; almost not.
He had barely enough money to pay for the car.
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without disguise or concealment; openly.
They gave the facts to him barely.
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scantily; meagerly; sparsely.
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Archaic. merely.
adverb
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only just; scarcely
barely enough for their needs
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informal not quite; nearly
barely old enough
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scantily; poorly
barely furnished
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archaic openly
Usage
See hardly.
Etymology
Origin of barely
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English bærlīce; see bare 1, -ly
Explanation
Something barely there is hardly there at all. If there are barely any leaves on the trees, then winter is right around the corner. Barely is a word meaning hardly, nearly, scarcely, or marginally. If there is barely a dusting of snow, there is hardly any snow at all. If your team barely won a game, then they came really close to losing. If you barely missed an ice cream truck, then you missed it by seconds. This is a word for near misses and close calls.
Vocabulary lists containing barely
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 26–31
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Tears of a Tiger
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Thirteen Reasons Why
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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.
That figure barely missed analyst expectations for $2.889 billion.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
The most-watched man in America right now is a 39-year-old from Rosario, Argentina, who barely raises his voice.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Sparks waived their top pick in this year’s draft, Ta’Niya Latson, after barely playing, and she has gone on to join Las Vegas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The problem was that his series of tweaks and fiddles had turned his team into a barely coherent collection of walking wounded and players lined up out of position.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Souilly was barely a hamlet surrounded by farmland, a cluster of small cottages spoking out like a wheel from a modest stone town hall.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
