Meaning & Definition of Scarcely in English

1. Only a very short time before

• "They could barely hear the speaker"

• "We hardly knew them"

• "Just missed being hit"

• "Had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"

• "Would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave"- w.b.yeats

2. Almost not

• "He hardly ever goes fishing"

• "He was hardly more than sixteen years old"

• "They scarcely ever used the emergency generator"