Definition of BARELY

barely

Meanings

Adverb

  • only a very short time before; ; ; ; ; - W.B.Yeats
    • "they could barely hear the speaker"
  • in a sparse or scanty way
    • "a barely furnished room"

Adv

  • By a small margin.
  • Almost not at all.
  • Recently, just now.
  • Merely.
  • Openly, clearly, plainly.

Origin / 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”).

Synonyms

hardly, just, only just, scantily, scarce, scarcely

Scrabble Score: 11

barely is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
barely is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
barely is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

barely is a valid Words With Friends word