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Hardly vs Impossible - What's the difference?

hardly | impossible |

As an adverb hardly

is (manner|obsolete) firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.

As an interjection hardly

is not really.

As an adjective impossible is

not possible; not able to be done or happen.

As a noun impossible is

an impossibility.

hardly

English

Adverb

(en-adv)
  • (manner, obsolete) Firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.148:
  • Let him hardly be possest with an honest curiositie to search out the nature and causes of all things.
  • (manner, archaic) Harshly, severely.
  • With difficulty.
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.234:
  • 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.
  • * 1977 , , The Honourable Schoolboy , Folio Society 2010, p. 40:
  • While in Chelsea, Anne Smiley pined, taking very hardly to her unaccustomed role of wife abandoned.
  • (degree) Barely, only just, almost not.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 3, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke , passage=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.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-06, volume=408, issue=8843, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The rise of smart beta , passage=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.}}

    Usage notes

    In the sense "barely", it is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare example sentence with I almost never watch television

    Synonyms

    * barely, just, only just, scarcely

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • Not really.
  • I think the Beatles are a really overrated band. &
  • x2015; Hardly !
  • impossible

    English

    Alternative forms

    * inpossible (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Not possible; not able to be done or happen.
  • * 1865 , (Lewis Carroll), (w, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
  • Nothing is impossible , only impassible.
  • * 13 March 1962 ,
  • Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
  • , volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Our banks are out of control , passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible , there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
  • (colloquial, of a person) Very difficult to deal with.
  • (math, dated) imaginary
  • impossible quantities, or imaginary numbers

    Synonyms

    * (l) (rare)

    Antonyms

    * (not able to be done or happen) possible, inevitable

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • an impossibility
  • * Late 14th century': “Madame,” quod he, “this were an '''impossible !” — Geoffrey Chaucer, ‘The Franklin's Tale’, ''Canterbury Tales
  • Statistics

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