scarcely

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

Also spelled skasely

US /ˈskɛɹsli/ UK /ˈskɛəsli/ See IPA manual

Freq #14930

Meanings

1

adv
Almost not at all; only just.

She was so tired she could scarcely keep her eyes open.
2

adv
Surely not; definitely not (used to reject an idea).

You can scarcely expect him to fly a helicopter with no training.
3

adv
Only a very short time before (used with 'when').

Scarcely had she arrived when the phone rang.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · almost not at all; only just. barely hardly just

3 adv · only a very short time... barely

Word family

Related forms rarely

Etymology

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

scarcely Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# scarcely

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /ˈskɛɹsli/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈskɛəsli/
**Frequency rank:** 14930

## Meanings
1. Almost not at all; only just.
2. Surely not; definitely not (used to reject an idea).
3. Only a very short time before (used with 'when').

## Examples
- She was so tired she could scarcely keep her eyes open.
- You can scarcely expect him to fly a helicopter with no training.
- Scarcely had she arrived when the phone rang.

## Synonyms
- hardly

## Related Forms
- rarely

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scarcely

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

## AI Etymology
Scarcely comes from Middle English scarcely, scarsly, scarsely, scarsliche, scarseliche, equivalent to scarce + -ly. Modern senses include almost not at all; only just. and surely not; definitely not (used to reject an idea).. The wider word family includes related forms such as rarely.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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