Scarcely

Scarcely

Adverb · /ˈskɛːsli/ · only just; almost not; barely

Definition

Scarcely is an adverb meaning only just, barely, or almost not at all. When you scarcely do something, you do it by the narrowest of margins — or you barely manage it at all. Scarcely is a negative-oriented adverb: it typically implies that the amount, degree, or frequency of something falls just short of a meaningful threshold. I can scarcely believe it means I find it almost impossible to believe. He had scarcely sat down when the phone rang means he had barely managed to sit before the phone interrupted. The word introduces a sense of near-impossibility or near-absence into a statement.

Origin

Scarcely is formed from scarce with the standard adverb suffix -ly. The adjective scarce comes from Old Northern French escars, meaning restricted or scanty, which derived from Late Latin excarpsus, meaning extracted in limited amounts. Scarcely has been used in English since the fifteenth century. In earlier centuries, scarce itself served as the adverb — scarce had he spoken when the bell rang — but by the modern period, scarcely had entirely taken over the adverbial function.