What is another word for barely?
Synonyms for barely
ˈbɛər libare·ly
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word barely.
English Synonyms and Antonyms
barely
But ranges from the faintest contrast to absolute negation; as, I am willing to go, but (on the other hand) content to stay; he is not an honest man, but (on the contrary) a villain. The contrast may be with a silent thought; as, but let us go (it being understood that we might stay longer). In restrictive use, except and excepting are slightly more emphatic than but; we say, no injury but a scratch; or, no injury except some painful bruises. Such expressions as "words are but breath" (nothing but) may be referred to the restrictive use by ellipsis. So may the use of but in the sense of unless; as, "it never rains but it pours." To the same head must be referred the conditional use; as, "you may go, but with your father's consent" (i. e., "provided you have," "except that you must have," etc.). "Doubt but" is now less used than the more logical "doubt that." But never becomes a full synonym for and; and adds something like, but adds something different; "brave and tender" implies that tenderness is natural to the brave; "brave but tender" implies that bravery and tenderness are rarely combined. For the concessive use, compare NOTWITHSTANDING.
Synonyms:
and, besides, but, except, further, however, just, merely, moreover, nevertheless, notwithstanding, notwithstanding, only, provided, save, still, that, tho, unless, yet
Princeton's WordNet
barely, hardly, just, scarcely, scarceadverb
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
Synonyms:
just, hardly, scarcely, merely, scantily, exactly, simply, but, precisely, scarce, only, just nowscantily, barelyadverb
in a sparse or scanty way
"a barely furnished room"
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Words popularity by usage frequency
| ranking | word | |
|---|---|---|
| #3 | and | |
| #10 | that | |
| #43 | but | |
| #65 | only | |
| #109 | just | |
| #390 | still | |
| #398 | little | |
| #400 | save | |
| #466 | however | |
| #482 | provided | |
| #636 | yet | |
| #724 | further | |
| #1214 | almost | |
| #1305 | simply | |
| #1577 | unless | |
| #1585 | except | |
| #2506 | exactly | |
| #5322 | besides | |
| #5478 | moreover | |
| #5564 | merely | |
| #6787 | hardly | |
| #6932 | nevertheless | |
| #8208 | barely | |
| #8675 | precisely | |
| #11238 | notwithstanding | |
| #15473 | tho | |
| #15777 | scarce | |
| #21962 | scarcely | |
| #23157 | narrowly | |
| #67015 | scantily |
How to use barely in a sentence?
I've seen patients who log seven hours but spend most of that time in light sleep, barely touching the deep slow-wave or REM stages that are most restorative, they age just as poorly, sometimes worse, than someone getting six hours of genuinely consolidated, high-quality sleep.
I do a lot of outdoor activities that will be affected by climate change, i ski, raft, hike -- all sorts of stuff. We go up to Willamette Pass( to ski), and the last few years it's barely been open because of the lack of snow. Willamette Pass does sort of make me mad, but mostly I'm sad. We've affected our climate so much. We've done all of this.
Due to the force of the blast I suffered a concussion and I remember yelling for a medic but nobody was around me. It was pitch black, I couldnt see my hand in front of my face, my leg was throbbing in pain, I could barely breathe due to the massive amount of debris in the air. After a few minutes, two soldiers came in and got me, but those [four to five]minutes felt like hours. So coming back stateside, I have been told by family members that I was a lot more distant and that I had changed some.
From January until the end of August the rise was very little, barely 5 percent, so if we move at the same rate the numbers will be around 10 million... or slightly higher.
I'm barely prolific and incredibly lazy.
Translations for barely
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- بالكادArabic
- едва, самоBulgarian
- a penesCatalan, Valencian
- kaumGerman
- apenasSpanish
- töin tuskin, tuskin, ainoastaan, tuskin lainkaan, nipin napin, hädin tuskin, pelkästään, juuri ja juuriFinnish
- à peineFrench
- air èiginnScottish Gaelic
- apeneIdo
- appenaItalian
- ぎりぎりJapanese
- ძლივსGeorgian
- nauwelijksDutch
- bare så vidt, nesten ikke, så vidtNorwegian
- ledwie, ledwoPolish
- mal, apenasPortuguese
- de abiaRomanian
- лишь, еле-еле, [[почти]] [[не]], едва, только, елеRussian
- 僅僅Chinese
Get even more translations for barely »
Translation
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"barely." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LTD, 2026. Web. 23 Jul 2026. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/barely>.






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