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
Stranger still, the answer scarcely seems to matter.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
With that depth, an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of water would cover scarcely less than the area of a football field.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
Made mostly of muscle without a bone in their bodies, these wonderful weirdos can squeeze into spaces scarcely bigger than their eyeballs.
—Kate Siber, Outside, 21 Oct. 2025
The Rams fixed their run defense during the offseason with development and additions like Nate Landman and Poona Ford, to the point that the Jaguars scarcely tried to run the ball Sunday even before the score got out of hand.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcely
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Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
With that depth, an Olympic swimming pool’s worth of water would cover scarcely less than the area of a football field.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025
Made mostly of muscle without a bone in their bodies, these wonderful weirdos can squeeze into spaces scarcely bigger than their eyeballs.
—Kate Siber, Outside, 21 Oct. 2025
The Rams fixed their run defense during the offseason with development and additions like Nate Landman and Poona Ford, to the point that the Jaguars scarcely tried to run the ball Sunday even before the score got out of hand.
—Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 20 Oct. 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 29 Oct. 2025.
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