barely

American  

[bair-lee] / ˈbɛər li /

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.

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barely British  

/ 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

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Usage

See hardly.

Etymology

Origin of barely

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

Example Sentences

Even so, the newcomers are barely offsetting departures and retirements, and the force is growing older.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet, by most accounts, he’s barely in the top 10.

From Los Angeles Times

The job of starting pitcher today barely resembles the role as it had been for most of baseball’s history.

From The Wall Street Journal

A memory crunch was barely on their radar.

From The Wall Street Journal

The same couldn't be said for her stunned husband, but Bloor herself was barely fazed, having grown up on acreage around snakes.

From BBC

Related Words

• almost
• hardly
• scarcely