1
a
: by a narrow margin : only just
had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open—
Agnes S. Turnbull
Agnes S. Turnbull
b
: almost not
could scarcely see for the fog
2
a
: certainly not
could scarcely interfere
b
: probably not
there could scarcely have been found a leader better equipped—V. L. Parrington
V. L. ParringtonExamples of scarcely in a Sentence
He could scarcely control his joy.
Scarcely a day goes by when they don't see or talk to each other.
He had scarcely enough money.
This is scarcely a time to laugh.
I could scarcely tell them they were wrong.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Israeli medical system could scarcely function without them.
—Eyal Press, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
BlackRock’s experience shows that for Wall Street, the upside of publicly supporting climate action is far outweighed by the political risk, even though its Texas business was scarcely a drop in its $12 trillion total portfolio.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 5 June 2025
Like her new den-mates on this side of freedom, Su Su spent the years prior to her rescue in a cage scarcely larger than her body, where a needle was routinely inserted into her gallbladder to extract bile for sale in the traditional Chinese medicine market.
—Ryley Graham, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
Her father, Billy Ray, had the kind of crossover line-dancing hit in the ’90s whose success has scarcely been repeated.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcely
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Eyal Press, New Yorker, 9 June 2025
BlackRock’s experience shows that for Wall Street, the upside of publicly supporting climate action is far outweighed by the political risk, even though its Texas business was scarcely a drop in its $12 trillion total portfolio.
—Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 5 June 2025
Like her new den-mates on this side of freedom, Su Su spent the years prior to her rescue in a cage scarcely larger than her body, where a needle was routinely inserted into her gallbladder to extract bile for sale in the traditional Chinese medicine market.
—Ryley Graham, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
Her father, Billy Ray, had the kind of crossover line-dancing hit in the ’90s whose success has scarcely been repeated.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcely
Cite this Entry
“Scarcely.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarcely. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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