How to Use scarcely in a Sentence

scarcely

adverb
  • This is scarcely a time to laugh.
  • I could scarcely tell them they were wrong.
  • Scarcely a day goes by when they don't see or talk to each other.
  • He could scarcely control his joy.
  • He had scarcely enough money.
  • But that’s scarcely slowed him down.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2026
  • Sleet turned to snow as the sun rose, with scarcely a car on the road.
    — Gerald Herbert and David J. Phillip, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan. 2025
  • The guys don’t make sense as friends, which scarcely matters at that point.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 2 July 2019
  • The timing could scarcely be worse.
    — Sam Mkokeli, semafor.com, 4 Feb. 2026
  • The stakes could scarcely be higher.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Its height is scarcely three feet, upon a base of more than thirty.
    — Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, 8 May 2022
  • The rest of her words could scarcely be heard because of all the clapping.
    — NBC News, 8 Nov. 2019
  • The table was the object of tourist lore, scarcely a few decades old.
    — Aatish Taseer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2023
  • Not for her partner, who can scarcely contain his own spasms of grief.
    — Justin Chang Film Critic, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2021
  • The smallest species are scarcely more than an inch long and the largest may reach more than two feet.
    — New York Times, 9 July 2021
  • Their world of work had scarcely changed in a century.
    — Michael Sheridan, Vanity Fair, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The notes had scarcely stopped when a bull answered from dense pines far below.
    — Bruce Brady, Outdoor Life, 12 Sep. 2024
  • However, that hole is scarcely big enough for a cat to squeeze through now.
    — Mark Price, charlotteobserver, 4 June 2018
  • But the truth is, you are scarcely allowed the freedom to turn your brain off.
    — Sarah Bregel, Parents, 3 July 2024
  • And for a while, each couple scarcely amounts to more than a broad stroke and a conflict.
    — Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 17 Mar. 2025
  • And for a while, each couple scarcely amounts to more than a broad stroke and a conflict.
    — Natalia Winkelman, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2025
  • Churilyana, 90, has scarcely left her apartment for the past five years.
    — Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2022
  • Stranger still, the answer scarcely seems to matter.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The cast is scarcely recognizable and it was made with a slim crew.
    — Lindsey Bahr, Star Tribune, 10 Mar. 2021
  • The launch was scarcely announced in advance.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 22 June 2026
  • But there could scarcely have been a less opportune moment to press the point.
    — New York Times, 22 Apr. 2021
  • And some of them have scarcely been heard about outside Israel.
    — Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 2 May 2024
  • But in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, it was scarcely heard.
    — Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 18 May 2017
  • In symbolic terms, the two bears scarcely belong to the same species.
    — Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
  • Many fans can scarcely wait for the tournament to start and all the rest to recede for a spell.
    — Christopher Schnaars, USA TODAY, 28 Feb. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scarcely.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: