Purely vs Barely - What's the difference?
purely | barely | Related terms |
* 1962 , , Flush Times :
Solely; exclusively; merely, simply.
* 2005 , Owen Bowcott, The Guardian , 8 Apr 2005:
* 2007 , ‘(Helen Brooks)’, His Christmas Bride :
*:"But this meal tonight is not a date, not in the traditional sense. It's purely platonic, I assure you."
Chastely, innocently; in a sinless manner, without fault.
* 1623 , (William Shakespeare), Troilus and Cressida , First Folio, IV.7:
* 1823 , (Samuel Taylor Coleridge), Table Talk :
(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,
Purely is a related term of barely.
As adverbs the difference between purely and barely
is that purely is while barely is (degree) by a small margin.purely
English
Adverb
(en adverb)- I am fascinated by the entire scene, I purely am.
- The IRA should "lead by example" and "unilaterally" abandon paramilitary violence and adopt a purely political strategy, a leading Sinn Féin MP urged yesterday.
- faith and troth, / Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing: / Bids thee with most diuine integritie, / From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome.
- By some means or other the water flows purely , and separated from the filth, in a deeper and narrower course on one side of the rock, and the refuse of the dirt and troubled water goes off on the other in a broader current [...].
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