hardly meaning and definition

HARDLY adverb

Definition of hardly (adverb)

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
   • synonyms: barely, just, scarce, scarcely
2. almost not
   • "he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was hardly more than sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"
   • synonyms: scarcely