Scarcely vs Scare - What's the difference?
scarcely | scare |
(modal) Probably not.
(modal) Certainly not.
* 1842 , (William Godwin), ,
* 1869 , , ,
* 1898 , , ,
* 1914 , (Saki), ,
(degree) Almost not at all; by a small margin.
* Washington Irving
* 1875 December 7, , ,
* 1887 , (Arthur Conan Doyle), (A Study in Scarlet) :
* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
, title=
, chapter=2 * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
* 1963 , (Pierre Boulle), :
* 1993 , , Joseph Jacobs (translator), The Art of Worldly Wisdom ,
A minor fright.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=June 4
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=England 2 - 2 Switzerland
, work=BBC
A cause of slight terror; something that inspires fear or dread.
To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
* (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
* (The Langoliers)
As an adverb scarcely
is probably not.As a noun scare is
a minor fright.As a verb scare is
to frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.scarcely
English
Adverb
(en adverb)- One could scarcely find any trout in the stream without the stocking program.
- One could scarcely expect the man to know how to fly a helicopter.
- He did not enter upon the subject without being aware that government by its very nature counteracts the improvement of individual intellect; but, as the views he entertains in this particular are out of the common road, it is scarcely to be wondered at that he understood the proposition more completely as he proceeded, and saw more distinctly into the nature of the remedy.
- But, of course, this weather had put a stop to every kind of movement; for even if men could have borne the cold, they could scarcely be brought to face the perils of the snow-drifts.
- The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat it receives from the sun is barely half of that received by this world.
- His clothes could scarcely be called shabby, at least they passed muster in the half-light, but one’s imagination could not have pictured the wearer embarking on the purchase of a half-crown box of chocolates or laying out ninepence on a carnation buttonhole.
- He had scarcely finished, when the labourer arrived who had been sent for my ransom.
- In 1776 manufactories scarcely existed even in name in all this vast territory.
- Scarcely had she got fairly into it, however, before the beasts closed in behind her, and she found herself completely embedded in the moving stream of fierce-eyed long-homed bullocks.
citation, passage=“Scarcely had Alice reached her twentieth birthday, than she gave her erstwhile fiancée [sic] his formal congé. […]”}}
- That night, and for many nights after, the Velveteen Rabbit slept in the Boy’s bed. At first he found it rather uncomfortable, for the Boy hugged him very tight, and sometimes he rolled over on him, and sometimes he pushed him so far under the pillow that the Rabbit could scarcely breathe.
- But we shall take scarcely more than two years to reach it, while we should have needed almost as much time to arrive in the region of Proxima Centauris.
- Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best—for that we must have recourse to art.
Usage notes
It is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never. * Compare We scarcely ever eat fish.'' with ''We almost never eat fish.Synonyms
* barely, hardly * barely, just, hardly, only justscare
English
Noun
(en noun)- Johnny had a bad scare last night.
citation, page= , passage=England were held to a draw after surviving a major scare against Switzerland as they were forced to come from two goals behind to earn a point in the Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley.}}
- JM is a scare to the capitalists of this country.
Synonyms
* frightSee also
* scarecrowVerb
- Did it scare you when I said "Boo!"?
- The noise of thy crossbow / Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
- (Laurel Stevenson) Would you please be quiet? You're scaring the little girl.
- (Craig Toomey) Scaring the little girl?! Scaring the little girl?! Lady!