adverb
-
hardly at all; only just
-
ironic probably not or definitely not
that is scarcely justification for your actions
Usage
See hardly.
Related Words
See hardly.
Etymology
Origin of scarcely
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; see origin at scarce, -ly
Explanation
Scarcely means just before, hardly, or “almost not.” If you had scarcely made it to bed when the sun started to rise, you are probably pretty tired by now. Scarcely may have just made it in the nick of time and by the skin of its teeth, but it’s here now, even if it is just barely hanging on — which means you can scarcely accuse it of not showing up. Though an ly adverb, scarcely is unusual in that it is not so much a descriptor of its root adjective as a synonym of the adverb form scarce. If you scarcely believe me, look it up for yourself!
Vocabulary lists containing scarcely
"Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson
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The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
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Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
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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.
Yet A House of Dynamite could scarcely be timelier.
From Slate • Mar. 13, 2026
With scarcely a right angle, and therefore no fixed point for my eyes to rest, the interior kept giving me differing impressions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
They were so good for the entirety of the first half that you could scarcely see a way back for Celtic.
From BBC • Mar. 1, 2026
His large band, squeezed onto a stage scarcely longer than two kayaks laid end to end, is composed almost entirely of Haitian preachers’ kids raised in the country’s gospel tradition.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026
But when the organist touched the keys, we scarcely noticed—and when he played Bach, not at all.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
