51Թ

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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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51Թ 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.

At one point, a stream of 20 Santa Barbara Middle School students testified back-to-back, a few barely reaching the microphone.

From

The flats are barely furnished, with just a mattress and blankets on the floor.

From

It’s a person I barely know ... he goes, you wanna know the good news?

From

Up the hill, enveloped in a late-morning fog, were the barely there outlines of a new Israeli military outpost.

From

“In this economy, I can barely support myself,” one wrote.

From

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