scarcely
scarce·ly/ˈskɛɹsli/adverb
scarcely is spelled S-C-A-R-C-E-L-Y: 8 letters and 2 syllables (scarce·ly). It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adverb, scarcely means “Probably not” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scarcely?
| Letters | 8: S-C-A-R-C-E-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: scarce·ly |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is scarcely?
Scarcely appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scarcely?
- UK /ˈskɛəsli/
- US /ˈskɛɹsli/
Scarcely has 2 syllables, split scarce·ly in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-scarcely.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of scarcely
- more scarcely comparative
- most scarcely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scarcely mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adverb
- 1
Probably not.
One could scarcely find any trout in the stream without the stocking program.
- 2
Certainly not, hardly at all.
One could scarcely expect the man to know how to fly a helicopter.
- 3
Hardly: only just; by a small margin.
Scarcely had she arrived when she was put to work.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scarcely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | dificilmente , mal |
| French | à peine, guère |
| German | kaum |
| Spanish | apenas, difícilmente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scarcely come from?
From Middle English scarcely, scarsly, scarsely, scarsliche, scarseliche, equivalent to scarce + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).