SCARCELY

barely, hardly, just, scarcely, scarce

(adverb) only a very short time before; “we hardly knew them”; “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

hardly, scarcely, barely, scarce

(adverb) almost not; “he hardly ever goes fishing”; “he was scarce sixteen years old”; “they scarcely ever used the emergency generator”; “I can hardly hear what she is saying”; “she barely seemed to notice him”; “we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Adverb

scarcely (comparative more scarcely, superlative most scarcely)

(modal) Probably not.

(modal) Certainly not.

(degree) Almost not at all; by a small margin.

Usage notes

It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never.

• Compare We scarcely ever eat fish. with We almost never eat fish.

Synonyms

• (degree: by a small margin): barely, hardly

• (barely, almost not or not quite): barely, just, hardly, only just

Source: Wiktionary

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Scarce, Scarce"ly, adv.

1. With difficulty; hardly; scantly; barely; but just. With a scarce well-lighted flame. Milton. The eldest scarcely five year was of age. Chaucer. Slowly she sails, and scarcely stems the tides. Dryden. He had scarcely finished, when the laborer arrived who had been sent for my ransom. W. Irwing.

2. Frugally; penuriously. [Obs.] haucer.

SCARCE

Scarce, a. [Compar. Scarcer; superl. Scarcest.] Etym: [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See Carpet, and cf. Excerp.]

1. Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. You tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen one fifth in value. Locke. The scarcest of all is a Pescennius Niger on a medallion well preserved. Addison.

2. Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); -- with of. [Obs.] "A region scarce of prey." Milton.

3. Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; stingy. [Obs.] "Too scarce ne too sparing." Chaucer. To make one's self scarce, to decamp; to depart. [Slang]

Syn.

– Rare; infrequent; deficient. See Rare.

Scarce, Scarce"ly, adv.

1. With difficulty; hardly; scantly; barely; but just. With a scarce well-lighted flame. Milton. The eldest scarcely five year was of age. Chaucer. Slowly she sails, and scarcely stems the tides. Dryden. He had scarcely finished, when the laborer arrived who had been sent for my ransom. W. Irwing.

2. Frugally; penuriously. [Obs.] haucer.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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