Definitions for: Hardly


[adv] by a small margin; "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
[adv] almost not; "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was hardly more than sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"



Webster (1913) Definition: Hard"ly, adv. [AS. heardlice. See Hand.]
1. In a hard or difficult manner; with difficulty.

Recovering hardly what he lost before. --Dryden.

2. Unwillingly; grudgingly.

The House of Peers gave so hardly thei? consent.
--Milton.

3. Scarcely; barely; not guite; not wholly.

Hardly shall you one so bad, but he desires the
credit of being thought good. --South.

4. Severely; harshly; roughly.

He has in many things been hardly used. --Swift.

5. Confidently; hardily. [Obs.] --Holland.

6. Certainly; surely; indeed. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Synonyms: barely, just, scarce, scarcely

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