How to Use barely in a Sentence

barely

adverb

• We barely spoke the entire time we were in the car.
• There is barely a difference between the two.
• There are barely any new features in this software.
• The shorter sections at the back just barely grazed the nape of her neck.
  — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 13 June 2023
• Nichols sits in the dark against the car, barely moving.
  — CBS News, 30 Jan. 2023
• In fact, that setup turned out to be barely a third of the movie.
  — Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2024
• There are no bad parts, and yet even the best ones are barely there.
  — oregonlive, 27 May 2022
• The two had barely been married three months at the time.
  — Asawin Suebsaeng, Rolling Stone, 18 May 2022
• This whole idea that teenagers barely work now is crazy to me.
  — Jamie Ludwig, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023
• By this point, the two of us were barely on speaking terms.
  — Lachlan Cartwright, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024
• Since the midterm election, Frost had barely had the time to process his new life.
  — Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023
• My car was tiny and there was barely enough room for all four of us.
  — San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2022
• And the pieces barely had time to hit stores before they were sold out.
  — Rory Satran, WSJ, 19 Mar. 2022
• The actress wore a pair of Paris Texas‘ barely there Lidia mule in a nude shade.
  — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 15 July 2025
• Many barely made it up the nearly 20 steps to the entrance.
  — Roy S. Johnson | [e-mail], al, 1 Dec. 2021
• The bill barely made it out of the Senate earlier in the week.
  — Brian Bennett, Time, 3 July 2025
• And now there's barely anything to talk and laugh about.
  — Phil Helsel, NBC News, 24 Sep. 2024
• Once again, one of the best parts of the skit is how Gosling can barely keep it together by the end.
  — Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024
• There were the many smaller shootings that seemed to barely make the news.
  — Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022
• There were the many smaller shootings that seemed to barely make the news.
  — Todd C. Frankel, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Aug. 2022
• For the first eight innings, the Mets offense barely had a pulse.
  — Andrew Tredinnick, USA TODAY, 6 May 2022
• Trull’s head barely clears the rafters once he’s settled.
  — oregonlive, 12 June 2023
• Some weeks, there’s barely enough standing room in the vestibule.
  — Stephen Ford, WSJ, 25 Nov. 2021
• The former wife speaks so faintly that the new wife can barely hear.
  — Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
• Jorge Polanco has barely played.
  — Tim Britton, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
• Behind the table was an orchestra, barely playing loud enough to hear.
  — Rebecca Morin, USA Today, 26 Apr. 2026
• The man barely got past the perimeter.
  — Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026
• An air taxi is just one piece of a transportation infrastructure that barely exists yet.
  — Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 25 Apr. 2026
• Not bad for a fourth-round defensive tackle who barely weighed 290 pounds coming out of college.
  — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Apr. 2026
• At that height, pruning and harvesting barely qualify as chores.
  — Rachel Silva, Martha Stewart, 25 Apr. 2026