barely

adverb

bare·​ly ˈber-lē 

1

: in a meager manner : plainly

a barely furnished room

2

: scarcely, hardly

barely enough money for lunch

Synonyms of barely

• slightly
• just
• narrowly
• hardly

Examples of barely in a Sentence

We barely spoke the entire time we were in the car.

There are barely any new features in this software.

There is barely a difference between the two.

Recent Examples on the Web

The greatest American hero after Washington was the Marquis de Lafayette, who arrived, in 1777, barely speaking English. —Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 4 May 2026

The ladder shifted down, and barely anyone noticed — because the absolute numbers kept going up. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 May 2026

Ashley Graham started Met Gala weekend with a date night take on the barely-there evening sandal on Saturday, arriving with husband Justin Ervin at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos’ pre-party at their NoMad apartment in New York. —Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 May 2026

Padilla’s physical comedy shifted the sketch into a different stratosphere; Marshall and Rodrigo barely stifled their laughter as Beverly tried to wrestle the cardigan onto Duncan’s chest. —Paula Mejía, The Atlantic, 3 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1513, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for barely

• unfairly
• fairly
• rarely
• squarely