hardly en · ADV
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈhɑːdli/ (UK)
- /ˈhɑɹdli/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard + -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.
Meanings
-
(qualifier:degree) Barely, only just, almost not.
I could hardly have managed it in less time.
They hardly ever watch television.
How lonely they looked as they lay there, and how ill assorted! That little heap had been for two thousand years the wisest, loveliest, proudest creature - I can hardly call her woman - in the whole universe.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:Hardly did I arrive when he left.
It's hardly possible he could lose the election.
-
Certainly not; not at all.
I hardly think they'll come in this bad weather!
With this the second of three games in seven days for Stoke, it was hardly surprising to see nine changes from the side that started against Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.
2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2012:Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.
2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, archived from the original on 01 May 2024, page 68:
-
(archaic) With difficulty.
While in Chelsea, Anne Smiley pined, taking very hardly to her unaccustomed role of wife abandoned.
1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 40:And what gentle flame soever doth warme the heart of young virgins, yet are they hardly drawne to leave and forgoe their mothers, to betake them to their husbands […].
, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.234
-
(dated) Harshly, severely; in a hard manner.
"Mr. Cholmondeley, the young men out here are much too hardly worked to allow them time for paying impertinent compliments."
1866 February 14, [O.G. Trevelyan], “The Dawk Bungalow”, in Frazer's Magazine, London, page 219:The War pressed hardly upon imaginative men in responsible positions.
1928, Dorothy Sayers, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club:Only I wasn't at all pleased with that; I saw that he was simply sorry for me because I was so hardly treated by grandmother, and that was all.
1918, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett, White Nights (Constance Garnett translation), page 51:I was a fool when I married him; and I am so far an incurable fool on that subject, that, for the sake of what I once believed him to be, I wouldn’t have even this shadow of my idle fancy hardly dealt with.
1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
-
(obsolete) Firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.
Let him hardly be possest with an honest curiositie to search out the nature and causes of all things […].
, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.148Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly, that I felt the palpitation of every artery; at others, I nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.
1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, pages 101–102:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most hardly | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| hardlier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| hardliest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more hardly | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
working hard or hardly working · I hardly know her · I hardly even know her · not hardly · we hardly knew ye
Synonyms
just (barely, almost not or not quite) · scarcely (barely, almost not or not quite) · only just (barely, almost not or not quite) · barely (barely, almost not or not quite)
Translations (105)
sv näppeligen (barely, only just) · yi קוים (barely, only just) · ru суро́во (harshly) · vi vừa mới (barely, only just) · grc μόλις (barely, only just) · cs stěží (barely, only just) · is með fyrirhöfn (barely, only just) · nan-hbl 重 (harshly) · de hart (harshly) · oj agaawaa (barely, only just) · mn арай (barely, only just) · sc accalaítzu (barely, only just) · ru едва́ (barely, only just) · is ekki meira en svo (barely, only just) · mk одвај (barely, only just) · lt vos (barely, only just) · pt severamente (harshly) · gd air èiginn (barely, only just) · es a duras penas (barely, only just) · hu nemigen (barely, only just) · sc izu (barely, only just) · hi थोड़े (barely, only just) · de kaum (barely, only just) · eo malverŝajne (certainly not) · eo apenaŭ (barely, only just) · he בקושי (barely, only just) · mk едвај (barely, only just) · is naumlega (barely, only just) · cs sotva (barely, only just) · ko 거의 (barely, only just) · sv knappt (barely, only just) · cs přísně (harshly) · fro a paine (barely, only just) · fo neyvan (barely, only just) · is hakalega (harshly) · fr dur (harshly) · nb neppe (barely, only just) · pt quase não (barely, only just) · is með erfiði (barely, only just) · oc gaire (barely, only just) · it aspramente (harshly) · is af hörku (harshly) · is varla (barely, only just) · pl ledwo (barely, only just) · fr guère (barely, only just) · pt mal (barely, only just) · cmn 重 (harshly) · sv knappast (barely, only just) · km តើកៗ (barely, only just) · it appena (barely, only just) · yue 重 (harshly) · hu alig (barely, only just) · uk ле́две (barely, only just) · mi pitoiti (barely, only just) · sc azìgu (barely, only just) · ru е́ле (barely, only just) · fi hädin tuskin (barely, only just) · hy հազիվ (barely, only just) · is tæplega (barely, only just) · ang unēaþe (barely, only just) · fr à peine (barely, only just) · lt vos vos (barely, only just) · sc appenas (barely, only just) · nb hardt (harshly) · mi pitopitoiti (barely, only just) · uk ледь (barely, only just) · mhr ала (barely, only just) · ca gaire (barely, only just) · nl nauwelijks (barely, only just) · da knap (barely, only just) · io apene (barely, only just) · nb knapt (barely, only just) · es apenas (barely, only just) · ca a penes (barely, only just) · ckb جارجار (barely, only just) · fr durement (harshly) · sh jȅdva (barely, only just) · de rau (harshly) · hu aligha (barely, only just) · bg едва́м (barely, only just) · cy braidd (barely, only just) · is með naumindum (barely, only just) · sh је̏два (barely, only just) · sk sotva (barely, only just) · sdc aìzu (barely, only just) · hy դժվարությամբ (barely, only just) · km ស្ទើរតែ (barely, only just) · hak 重 (harshly) · be ледзь (barely, only just) · la vix (barely, only just) · ckb ئاستەم (barely, only just) · ga ní móide (barely, only just) · la haud (barely, only just) · hu bajosan (barely, only just) · th แทบจะไม่ (barely, only just) · cy prin (barely, only just) · km គើមៗ (barely, only just) · ro abia (barely, only just) · cmn 幾乎不 /几乎不 (barely, only just) · sk ledva (barely, only just) · fi töin tuskin (barely, only just) · ru жёстко (harshly) · vi hầu như không (barely, only just) · fi tuskin (barely, only just) · ru ре́зко (harshly)