'Barely' definitions:
Definition of 'barely'
(from WordNet)
adverb
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 [syn: barely, hardly, just, scarcely, scarce]
adverb
In a sparse or scanty way; "a barely furnished room" [syn: scantily, barely]
Definition of 'Barely'
From: GCIDE
- Barely \Bare"ly\, adv.
- 1. Without covering; nakedly. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Without concealment or disguise. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Merely; only. [1913 Webster]
- R. For now his son is duke. W. Barely in title, not in revenue. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 4. But just; without any excess; with nothing to spare (of quantity, time, etc.); hence, scarcely; hardly; as, there was barely enough for all; he barely escaped. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'barely'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- a bit,
- a little,
- alone,
- baldly,
- by a hair,
- by an ace,
- closely,
- ever so little,
- exclusively,
- exiguously,
- faintly,
- feebly,
- hardly,
- imperfectly,
- inappreciably,
- inconsequentially,
- insignificantly,
- just,
- just a bit,
- lightly,
- little,
- meagerly,
- merely,
- minimally,
- minutely,
- nakedly,
- narrowly,
- nearly,
- negligibly,
- not hardly,
- not quite,
- only,
- only just,
- plainly,
- purely,
- scantily,
- scarce,
- scarcely,
- simply,
- simply and solely,
- singly,
- slightly,
- solely,
- tant soit peu,
- triflingly,
- weakly