1. only just; almost not: "her voice is so low I can scarcely hear what she is saying"Similarhardlybarelyonly justalmost not
▪ only a very short time before: "she had scarcely dismounted before the door swung open"
▪ used to suggest that something is unlikely to be or certainly not the case:"they could scarcely all be wrong"Similarrarelyseldominfrequentlynot oftenhardly everalmost neveron rare occasionsevery once in a whileinformal:once in a blue moonsurely notnothardlycertainly notdefinitely notnot at allon no accountunder no circumstancesby no meansnowayOppositeoften
