adv
barely
BEH-uh-lee
adv
1
Only just; by the smallest possible margin.
"She barely passed the exam."
"We barely made it to the airport in time."
2
Almost not at all.
"He barely spoke a word all evening."
How to Use Barely
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishJust barely, by a hair, almost not.
Common pairings
barely made it
barely enough
barely noticeable
Word Forms
more barely comparative, most barely superlative
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Etymology
From Old English bærlīċe, built from "bare" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly" — originally meaning something closer to "openly" before it shifted to mean "just barely."