HARDLY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does hardly mean? 

• HARDLY (adverb)
  The adverb HARDLY has 3 senses:

1. only a very short time before

2. almost not

3. slowly and with difficulty

  Familiarity information: HARDLY used as an adverb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HARDLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Only a very short time before

Synonyms:

barely; hardly; just; scarce; scarcely

Context example:

would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave

Sense 2

Meaning:

Almost not

Synonyms:

barely; hardly; scarce; scarcely

Context example:

we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles

Sense 3

Meaning:

Slowly and with difficulty

Synonyms:

hard; hardly

Context example:

he was so dizzy he could hardly stand up straight

 Context examples 

For two nights I had hardly had a wink of sleep, and my brain was beginning to feel that numbness which marks cerebral exhaustion.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They could hardly have fared worse.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

How often have I seen him, intent upon a match at marbles or pegtop, looking on with a face of unutterable interest, and hardly breathing at the critical times!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

There was no need of having a scene, hardly any need of telling Amy that he loved her, she knew it without words and had given him his answer long ago.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To be sure that did seem as if he admired her—indeed I rather believe he did—I heard something about it—but I hardly know what—something about Mr. Robinson.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

While he did not amount to much, it is true—that is, physically—I'd hardly say he was as bad as all that.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“Remember, to-morrow is coming, and you’re so tired now that you can hardly stand.”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I walked on so fast that even he could hardly have overtaken me had he tried.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I can hardly claim to take serious notice of anything that I can see with my naked eye.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)