hardly
only just; almost not; barely: We had hardly reached the lake when it started raining. hardly any; hardly ever.
not at all; scarcely: That report is hardly surprising.
with little likelihood: He will hardly come now.
forcefully or vigorously.
with pain or difficulty.
British. harshly or severely.
hard.
Origin of hardly
1synonym study For hardly
usage note For hardly
Words that may be confused with hardly
Words Nearby hardly
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use hardly in a sentence
This is hardly the first example of such a thing, as I detailed earlier this week.
The Trump administration’s politicization of coronavirus comes to a head | Aaron Blake | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostThe bookmakers didn’t give Dallas much of a chance to win the Stanley Cup because Dallas hardly proved it was good enough to qualify for the playoffs, let alone win once it got there.
Teams Don’t Win The Stanley Cup With A Goal Deficit. Can The Dallas Stars Change That? | Terrence Doyle | September 16, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightProtesters took over roughly a six-block area in Seattle — hardly a “big chunk” or 20 percent.
Trump’s ABC News town hall: Four Pinocchios, over and over again | Glenn Kessler | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostHe Jiankui, the disgraced scientist behind the CRISPR babies experiment, was hardly coy about his plans.
A CRISPR Baby Future? New Report Outlines Path to Human Germline Editing | Shelly Fan | September 15, 2020 | Singularity HubChecking your website page by page is hardly practical, so you can use Google Search Console to check all your pages at once.
8 major Google ranking factors — SEO guide | Sponsored Content: SEO PowerSuite | September 15, 2020 | Search Engine Land
The gunman hardly broke stride as he nonetheless shot Merabet in the head, killing him.
This is especially striking, though hardly surprising, in the case of Priebus, Mr. Outreach.
Today’s GOP: Still Cool With Racist Pandering? | Michael Tomasky | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTBut locals there say any money deposited is thrown into an unlocked cupboard behind the tellers, hardly inspiring confidence.
I was already over forty, had hardly a nickel in my pocket and this was the biggest break in my life.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe grim instability of shelter life is hardly a recipe for success under the best of circumstances.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside | Justin Rohrlich | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHere is a chair, Monsieur Arden; but you can hardly see it until your eyes have grown a little accustomed to our crpuscula.
Checkmate | Joseph Sheridan Le FanuThe doors (Indian bungalows have hardly any windows, each door being half glass) were open front and back.
The Red Year | Louis TracyYou see, I am the city undertaker, and the people are dying here so fast, that I can hardly supply the demand for coffins.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun; | Various"A camp-fire would hardly flash and die out like that, Sarge," he answered thoughtfully.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairFelipe was so full of impatience to continue his search, that he hardly listened to the Father's words.
Ramona | Helen Hunt Jackson
British Dictionary definitions for hardly
/ (ˈhɑːdlɪ) /
scarcely; barely: we hardly knew the family
just; only just: he could hardly hold the cup
often ironic almost or probably not or not at all: he will hardly incriminate himself
with difficulty or effort
rare harshly or cruelly
usage For hardly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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