hardly
22
1.5
- adverb
- /ˈhɑrdli/
:
apenas
- The school's restructuring started off slowly, hardly disturbing the daily routine of most teachers.
Examples
-
They had hardly arrived when the event started.
-
I miss you terribly and can hardly wait to hold you in my arms again.
Fiction book (1992) -
Your mom and I hardly knew each other when she got pregnant.
-
I can hardly wait for the motion picture to begin.
-
At the end of March, it started raining and hardly stopped for the next five weeks.
Fiction book (1995) -
And now, mind you, it's a hotel, but there are hardly any tourists ever.
Fiction book (1998) -
And hardly any time has passed before I hear a click and the door open and a creak.
-
Others, constructed of modern cinder block, were in better condition, but they were hardly worth repairing.
Fiction book (1992) -
Pandora didn't mean to be rude, but she could hardly believe it.
Fiction book (2001) -
Yours faithfully, Vyvyan Etheridge. Mr. Etheridge, I could hardly believe it when I opened your letter!
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A short time before now
∞
1.0
Happens only by a very small amount
68
4.2
Almost not at all or only just
1
9.9
Only a very short time before something happens
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
A humorous question asking if people do their job a lot or only a little
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Hardly is also used to mean 'only just' or 'just before' in time, and this sense grew from the same idea of something happening only with difficulty. A helpful way to remember it is to think that if she had hardly left, she 'only just' left a moment before the next event.