Barely

How to spell barely

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce barely

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does barely mean?

1. adverbOnly just; by the smallest possible margin; scarcely.

Barely in a sentence

• She had barely enough money to cover the rent this month.

• The train was so crowded that he could barely move.

Where does barely come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built from the Old English adjective bær, meaning 'naked' or 'uncovered', plus the common adverb-forming ending -ly, which itself goes back to Old English -lice and originally meant something like 'in the manner of'. In its earliest uses 'barely' simply meant 'nakedly' or 'plainly', describing something stripped of cover or decoration. Over time the sense shifted toward 'merely' and then to the modern meaning of 'only just' or 'scarcely', as if to say something happens with the barest possible margin. The same Germanic root sits inside the everyday adjective 'bare', so spelling the stem the same way (bare, not 'barly') is the natural memory hook. The whole development stayed within native English, which is why the word feels so ordinary despite its long history.

How the word is built

• bare (uncovered, plain, from Old English bær)
• -ly (adverb suffix)