hardly

A2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled ardly

US /ˈhɑɹdli/ UK /ˈhɑːdli/ See IPA manual

Freq #1441

Meanings

1

adv
Almost not; only to a very small degree.

I could hardly hear him over the noise.
2

adv
Used to say something happened only a very short time before something else.

We had hardly sat down when the phone rang.
3

adv
Certainly not; surely not.

You can hardly expect me to believe that.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · almost not; only to a very... barely scarcely

2 adv · used to say something... barely

Etymology

From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard + -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.

hardely Middle English heardlīċe Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# hardly

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɑɹdli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɑːdli/
**Frequency rank:** 1441

## Meanings
1. Almost not; only to a very small degree.
2. Used to say something happened only a very short time before something else.
3. Certainly not; surely not.

## Examples
- I could hardly hear him over the noise.
- We had hardly sat down when the phone rang.
- You can hardly expect me to believe that.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hardely
- Root: heardlīċe

## Etymology
From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard + -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.

## AI Etymology
Hardly comes from Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard + -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adverbial form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “Almost not; only to a very small degree” and “Used to say something happened only a very short time before something else”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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