Talk:hardly

used to suggest that something is unlikely or unreasonable or that somebody is silly for saying or doing something

With little likelihood: They will hardly come now. --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:13, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

almost never

“Hardly” and “scarcely” can mean “almost never,” unlike “barely”: She hardly (ever) sees her parents these days. --Backinstadiums (talk) 08:36, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

Adverb: hard

Adverb: hard --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:03, 26 June 2021 (UTC)

Erroneous forms

In dialect, hardly appears in at least three erroneous forms: ✳can’t hardly (for can hardly), ✳not hardly (for hardly), and ✳without hardly (for almost without). --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:00, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

Meaning not rather than barely?

One of our usage examples is, "I hardly think they'll come in this bad weather". Our definition would translate this to mean "I only barely think they will come (due to this bad weather)", meaning that in the mind of the speaker there is still a greater than 50% chance that they will come (but not much greater). This may just be me, but when I hear the usage example, I hear it to mean "I think that they will not come (due to this bad weather)", meaning the chance of them coming (in the mind of the speaker) is less than 50%. - excarnateSojourner (talk | contrib) 01:41, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

"Barely" isn't the only word in that definition though. There's more to it. Equinox ◑ 01:43, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

@Equinox But aren't "only just" and "almost not" synonymous with barely? Rephrasing the above example, "I <only just> think they'll come in this bad weather" or "I <almost do not> think they'll come in this bad weather" mean the speaker does still think they will come (but is uncertain), right? Maybe I have just heard it used as an understatement (like "it's not bad" to mean "it's good")? - excarnateSojourner (talk | contrib) 20:36, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

I think I'm on to something: Merriam Webster and the Britannica Dictionary both have "certainly not"; the Free Dictionary has "probably or surely not". See also related section above. - excarnateSojourner (talk | contrib) 21:00, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

“hardly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. shows that MWOnline has 8 definitions (3 archaic or dated). We should add more definitions and may have to resort to one or more non-gloss definitions to make this a good entry. DCDuring (talk) 16:17, 2 October 2022 (UTC)