English
Adverb
barely
- By a small margin.
#* 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 8.
#*: It becomes, therefore, no inconsiderable part of science barely to know the different operations of mind,
#Almost not at all.
#:The plane is so far away now I can barely see it.
Usage notes
It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never.
Compare You can find barely ever used items on eBay. with You can almost never find used items on eBay.
Synonyms
hardly
rarely
scarcely
seldom
little
Translations
Dutch: t+|nl|nauwelijks
Finnish: tuskin, töin tuskin, hädin tuskin, juuri ja juuri, nipin napin
French: t+|fr|Ã peine
German: t+|de|kaum
Ido : apene
Italian: t+|it|appena
Norwegian : så vidt
Portuguese: t+|pt|apenas
Spanish: t-|es|apenas
Quotations
1925: Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie
:�It is barely possible you may hear of a ghost, a Phantom of the Opera!�
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