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View synonyms for

barely

[ bair-lee ]

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.


barely

/ ˈɛəɪ /

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
“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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Usage Note

See hardly.
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Usage

See hardly
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Word History and Origins

Origin of barely1

First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English æī; bare 1, -ly
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Some still had tags and I barely remembered buying them, as they sat in bins.

From

This year, though, it seems Cam Ward has barely had a mention.

From

The dregs of the British Empire could barely restrain their racism and classism, and Meghan was easily cast as a convenient villain.

From

I barely made it through two seasons of the Netflix series, so I’m hardly an expert on “Stranger Things.”

From

The footage shows the Portuguese manager being driven out of the stadium, past a team bus he'd rushed off minutes earlier with barely a word.

From

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bareleggedbare-naked