Definition of SCARCELY

scarcely

Meanings

Adverb

  • only a very short time before; ; ; ; ; - W.B.Yeats
    • "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"
  • almost not
    • "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"

Adv

  • Probably not.
  • Certainly not, hardly at all.
  • Hardly: only just; by a small margin.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English scarcely, scarsly, scarsely, scarsliche, scarseliche, equivalent to scarce + -ly.

Synonyms

barely, hardly, just, only just, scarce

Scrabble Score: 15

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

Words With Friends Score: 17

scarcely is a valid Words With Friends word