Definitions for scarcely
ˈskɛərs liscarce·ly

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. barely, hardly, just, scarcely, scarceadverb

   only a very short time before

   "they could barely hear the speaker"; "we hardly knew them"; "just missed being hit"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave"- W.B.Yeats

2. hardly, scarcelyadverb

   almost not

   "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was hardly more than sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scarcelyadverb

   Probably not.

   One could scarcely find any trout in the stream without the stocking program.

2. scarcelyadverb

   Certainly not.

   One could scarcely expect the man to know how to fly a helicopter.

3. scarcelyadverb

   Almost not at all; by a small margin.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scarce, Scarcelyadverb

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   1. Hardly; scantly.

   A thing which we so little hoped to see, that even they which beheld it done scarcely believed their own senses. Richard Hooker.

   When we our betters see bearing our woes,
   We scarcely think our miseries our foes. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   Age, which unavoidably is but one remove from death, and consequently should have nothing about it but what looks like a decent preparation for it, scarce ever appears, of late days, but in the high mode, the flaunting garb, and utmost gaudery of youth. South.

   You neither have enemies, nor can scarce have any. Dryd.

   2. With difficulty.

   He scarcely knew him, striving to disown
   His blotted form, and blushing to be known. Dryden.

   Slowly he fails, and scarcely stems the tides;
   The pressing water pours within her sides. Dryden.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scarcely

   Scarcely is an adverb that means hardly at all, only just, barely, or not quite; often suggesting that something happened immediately after something else in a surprising way. It can also mean in a manner indicating a lack of abundance or scarcity.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Scarcelyadverb

   with difficulty; hardly; scantly; barely; but just

2. Scarcelyadverb

   frugally; penuriously

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. scarcely

   "You use scarcely to emphasize that something is only just true or only just the case.You can use scarcely to say that something is not true or is not the case, in a humorous or critical way.By a very little; almost not:barely, hardly, just, scarce.hardly, barely, only just, scarce,by no means, hardly, not at all, definitely not, under no circumstances, on no account,rarely, seldom, not often, infrequently, occasionally, once in a blue moon (informal), hardly ever;by a narrow margin.

   Fascism’s unlikely recrudescence in Britain in the years after the war—and the resistance it met— are scarcely remembered at all.

   
   

   Submitted by anonymous on May 23, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Adverbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'scarcely' in Adverbs Frequency: #327

How to pronounce scarcely?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say scarcely in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of scarcely in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of scarcely in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of scarcely in a Sentence

1. Lord Chesterfield:

   There is hardly anybody good for everything, and there is scarcely anybody who is absolutely good for nothing.

2. Tom Blair:

   Silence is one of the great arts of conversation, as allowed by Cicero himself, who says, 'there is not only an art, but an eloquence in it.' A well bred woman may easily and effectually promote the most useful and elegant conversation without speaking a word. The modes of speech are scarcely more variable than the modes of silence.

3. Archibald MacLeish:

   The one man who should never attempt an explanation of a poem is its author. If the poem can be improved by it's author's explanations it never should have been published, and if the poem cannot be improved by its author's explanations the explanations are scarcely worth reading.

4. Dr. Jose P. Rizal:

   No, let us not make God in our image, poor inhabitants that we are of a distant planet lost in infinite space. However brilliant and sublime our intelligence may be, it is scarcely more than a small spark which shines and in an instant is extinguished, and it alone can give us no idea of that blaze, that conflagration, that ocean of light!

5. Voltaire:

   The history of human opinion is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=scarcely
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Scarcely
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=scarcely
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarcely