as in slightly
by a very small margin
we barely made it to the church on time
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Recent Examples of barely
For every Tom Brady and Brock Purdy, there are dozens of Day 3 quarterbacks who are barely heard from again.
—
Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Usage is growing, including among children who are barely out of diapers.
—ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2025
Since 2020, both the Bills and Stars have enjoyed wonderful regular seasons, been picked to win titles, only to barely miss.
—Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2025
The bridges are barely a few millimeters wide, hollowed out to save even more weight, while the winding rotor has been minimized to the essentials.
—Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barely
Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Usage is growing, including among children who are barely out of diapers.
—ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2025
Since 2020, both the Bills and Stars have enjoyed wonderful regular seasons, been picked to win titles, only to barely miss.
—Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Apr. 2025
The bridges are barely a few millimeters wide, hollowed out to save even more weight, while the winding rotor has been minimized to the essentials.
—Anthony Demarco, Forbes.com, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for barely
Cite this Entry
“Barely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barely. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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