barely

bare·ly

adverb

: hardly or scarcely

—used to say that someone or something only has a specified small size, age, length, etc.

—used to say that something reached a specifed condition or happened only a short time before

Full Definition of BARELY

1

:  in a meager manner :  plainly <a barely furnished room>

2

:  scarcely, hardly <barely enough money for lunch>

Beat your friends at SCRABBLE^® with our
official Word Finder Tool »

Examples of BARELY

1. We barely spoke the entire time we were in the car.
2. There are barely any new features in this software.
3. There is barely a difference between the two.

First Known Use of BARELY

before 12th century

Related to BARELY

Synonyms

just, hardly, marginally, narrowly, scarcely, slightly

Antonyms

considerably, significantly, substantially, vastly, well

Related Words

minimally, minutely, scantly; almost, approximately, closely, more or less, nearly, partly, plus or minus, roughly, somewhat

Near Antonyms

definitely, easily, plainly, positively, quite, unquestionably; abundantly, completely, copiously, fully, generously, greatly

Rhymes with BARELY

fairly, ferlie, rarely, sparely, squarely