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.}}

Adverb

(en adverb)

Infrequently, rarely.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.}}

*{{quote-news, year=2013, date=April 9, author=Andrei Lankov, title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff., work=New York Times citation

, passage=People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?}}

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}