Barely vs Rarely - What's the difference?
barely | rarely | Synonyms |
(degree) By a small margin.
* 1748 , , Oxford University Press (1973), section 8:
* 1925 , Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera , silent movie
(degree) Almost not at all.
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=October 23
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City
, work=BBC Sport
(archaic) merely.
* 1661 , , page 29,
Not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often.
Unusually well; excellently.
To a rare degree; very.
*, II.32:
Rarely is a synonym of barely.
As adverbs the difference between barely and rarely
is that barely is by a small margin while rarely is not occurring at a regular interval; seldom; not often.barely
English
Adverb
(-)- It becomes, therefore, no inconsiderable part of science barely to know the different operations of mind,
- ‘It is barely possible you may hear of a ghost, a Phantom of the Opera!’
- The plane is so far away now I can barely see it.
- Yes, it is barely visible.
citation, page= , passage=In contrast to what was to come, City were barely allowed any time to settle on the ball in the opening exchanges, with Ashley Young prominent and drawing heavy fouls from Micah Richards and James Milner.}}
- Now that fire do's not alwayes barely separate the Elementary parts, but sometimes at least alter also the Ingredients of Bodies
Usage notes
It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare You can find barely ever used items on eBay.'' with ''You can almost never find used items on eBay.Synonyms
* (degree) hardly, scarcely * hardly, just, only just, scarcelyAnagrams
* English degree adverbsrarely
English
Adverb
(en adverb)- We rarely go to the theatre.
- Rarely do you ever find an eagle this far up the river.
- others speake very honourably of his life and death, and in all other circumstances declare him to have beene a most excellent and rarely virtuous man.