/hahrd"lee/ , adv.
1. only just; almost not; barely: We had hardly reached the lake when it started raining. hardly any; hardly ever.
2. not at all; scarcely: That report is hardly surprising.
3. with little likelihood: He will hardly come now.
4. forcefully or vigorously.
5. with pain or difficulty.
6. Brit. harshly or severely.
7. hard.
[ 1175-1225; ME; OE heardlice. See HARD, -LY ]
Syn. 1. HARDLY, BARELY, SCARCELY imply a narrow margin by which performance was, is, or will be achieved. HARDLY, though often interchangeable with SCARCELY and BARELY, usually emphasizes the idea of the difficulty involved: We could hardly endure the winter. BARELY emphasizes the narrowness of the margin of safety, "only just and no more": We barely succeeded. SCARCELY implies a very narrow margin, below satisfactory performance: He can scarcely read.
Usage. 1, 3. HARDLY, BARELY, and SCARCELY all have a negative connotation, and the use of any of them with a negative like can't or couldn't is often condemned as a double negative and thus considered nonstandard: I can't hardly wait. Such constructions do occur occasionally in the speech of educated persons, often with jocular intent ( You can't hardly get that kind any more ) but are not found in formal speech or writing. When HARDLY in the sense "only just, almost not" is followed by a clause, the usual word to introduce the clause is when: The telephone had hardly stopped ringing when (not than ) the doorbell rang. See also double negative .