Barely (Adverb)

Meaning ¹

Only a very short time before; "we hardly knew them"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave"- W.B.Yeats.

Synonyms

• Hardly
• Just
• Scarce
• Scarcely

Meaning ²

By a little; "I only just caught the bus"; "he finished the marathon in just under 3 hours"; "it was barely 5 a.m."; "the network has barely 5 percent of viewers"; "the batter just missed being hit".

Synonyms

• Just

Meaning ³

Almost not; "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was scarce sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"; "I can hardly hear what she is saying"; "she barely seemed to notice him"; "we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles".

Synonyms

• Hardly
• Scarce
• Scarcely