scarcely
adverb
- hardly; not quite; only just
- probably not or certainly not: scarcely true
See scarcely in American Heritage Dictionary 4
(skârsˈlē)
adverb- By a small margin; barely: We scarcely made it in time.
- Almost not; hardly: We scarcely ever used the reserve generator.
- Certainly not: They could scarcely complain after such good treatment.
Usage Note: Because
scarcely has the force of a negative, its use with another negative, as in
I couldn't scarcely believe it, is regarded as incorrect. • A clause following
scarcely is correctly introduced by
when or
before; the use of
than, though common, is still unacceptable to some grammarians:
The meeting had scarcely begun when (or before but not than) it was interrupted. See Usage Notes at
double negative,
hardly.
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