barely

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adverb only a very short time before; ; ; ; ; - W.B.Yeats
  2. adverb in a sparse or scanty way

Etymology

From Middle English baarly, bareliche, barely, barly, from Old English bærlīċe, equivalent to bare + -ly. Compare Danish bare (“only, just”), Norwegian bare (“only, just”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

hardly, just, scarcely, scarce

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