as in slightly
by a very small margin
we barely made it to the church on time
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Recent Examples of barely
And the crowd, for the most part, barely made a peep while Simon played (although fans were appropriately appreciative during the song breaks).
—
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
This kind of broad, slapstick parody needs a steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments, but the new Scary Movie generates barely a trickle.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
Kenady aggressively rounded third and barely beat the throw home with a dramatic headfirst slide.
—Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026
Meckler barely played as a freshman, and then when a new coaching staff came in, he was cut.
—Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for barely
Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 4 June 2026
This kind of broad, slapstick parody needs a steady stream of laugh-out-loud moments, but the new Scary Movie generates barely a trickle.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
Kenady aggressively rounded third and barely beat the throw home with a dramatic headfirst slide.
—Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026
Meckler barely played as a freshman, and then when a new coaching staff came in, he was cut.
—Jeff Fletcher, Oc Register, 4 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for barely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barely
Adverb
-
Thin ties dropped from the neckline of the bohemian-leaning silhouette, giving the dress a slightly undone finish against the high-shine black heels.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
6 June 2026
-
Upgrading to the faster 150Mbps tier costs just slightly more, coming in at £22 ($29) a month on the 24-month plan or £32 ($43) on the flexible monthly option.—
David Phelan,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Adverb
-
Lunch and dinner are just as healthy, with simple recipes allowing the fresh food to shine.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
-
Our angel was right there on the sidewalk, just past the young men.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Adverb
-
Venezuela narrowly missed qualifying for the World Cup, which, in its way, solved a problem, and Greenland’s application for membership in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, or CONCACAF, was unanimously rejected last June.—
Chris Jones,
The Atlantic,
7 June 2026
-
Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League this season and narrowly avoided relegation.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
5 June 2026
Adverb
-
That payout was hardly a drop in Musk’s ocean of wealth, which is valued at $826 billion, according to Forbes.—
Jack Dunn,
Variety,
4 June 2026
-
But what Francis experienced hardly seemed humane.—
Austin Sarat,
The Conversation,
4 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barely. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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