as in slightly
by a very small margin
we barely made it to the church on time
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of barely
City leaders hope the program helps rebuild connections in a time when many people barely know the neighbors living next door.
—
Tori Mason, CBS News, 16 May 2026
Most travelers obsess over their flight details but barely glance at their tires.
—Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
On Friday night in Houston against an Astros team that is just barely above last place in the American League West, the Rangers lost, 2-0.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 May 2026
Standing beside the towering robot, Unitree’s chief executive, XingXing Wang, barely reached the end of its arm, a video posted by the company on X showed.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for barely
Tori Mason, CBS News, 16 May 2026
Most travelers obsess over their flight details but barely glance at their tires.
—Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 16 May 2026
On Friday night in Houston against an Astros team that is just barely above last place in the American League West, the Rangers lost, 2-0.
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 May 2026
Standing beside the towering robot, Unitree’s chief executive, XingXing Wang, barely reached the end of its arm, a video posted by the company on X showed.
—Mithil Aggarwal, NBC news, 15 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for barely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for barely
Adverb
-
Yolo County’s homeless population declined slightly over the past two years, but nearly two-thirds of the people counted in January were living outdoors as county leaders considered millions of dollars in cuts to the services many rely on.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
16 May 2026
-
Now, the qualifying procedure — which was already slightly altered from previous years — is getting altered again.—
Matt Reigle OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
Adverb
-
Heard whole, the Barber-Menotti product is as gloriously over the top as anything that Bette Davis ever made with William Wyler—and Heartbeat’s reduction of it to its burning cinders is as just as effective as Glyndebourne’s grandly eloquent take.—
Russell Platt,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
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Having overseen the game tent for many years, Cornelius knew just the thing to say in order to goad the customers into buying tickets.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
Adverb
-
Longtime Sacramento City Council member Eric Guerra has so far outraised political newcomer Flojaune Cofer, who is considered farther to the political left and narrowly lost the Sacramento mayoral race in 2024.—
Theresa Clift,
Sacbee.com,
16 May 2026
-
And maybe the Democrats would push it through on partisan grounds in a scenario where the Democrats had narrowly managed to win the House even while the Republicans had a significant structural advantage.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
15 May 2026
Adverb
-
Since then, hardly any international acts have performed in Israel, as the country has grappled with a multi-front war and a near-constant barrage of rockets.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
14 May 2026
-
To be fair, the PGA has hardly crumbled amid the breakaway to LIV.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Barely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/barely. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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