hardly

Definition

  • adverb: almost not at all
  • adverb: with force
  • used to say that something was almost not possible or almost did not happen
  • synonyms: unwillingly, grudgingly, scarcely

Examples

  • The news is 'hardly' surprising. = The news is 'hardly' a surprise. [=the news is not surprising at all]

  • “Is this a new idea for a movie?” “'Hardly'! I've seen dozens of movies just like it.”

  • I could 'hardly' believe my eyes. [=it was difficult to believe what I was seeing]

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) I was a national celebrity, Here he is, Forrest Gump. Right here. - Forrest Gump, John Lennon. - Welcome home. Can you tell us, what was China like? In the land of China, people hardly got nothin' at all. No possessions? And in China, they never go to church. - No religion, too? - Hard to imagine. (..)
    1994 Forrest Gump
  • (..) which I can only presume is you. It has fingers. And while polydactylism is a real thing, I hardly think it applies here. Dr. Wells, you can go, and have Dr. Hodgins swab the skull for particulates. Oh, I already did that before I came in here. (..)
    2016 TvShow: Bones Title: The Fight in the Fixer Season: 11 Episode 15
  • (..) Look at that drawing. The lines jitter. The color palette is either primary or mud brown. She hardly applied any shadowing techniques at all, which I certainly did at her age. Objectively speaking, I'd have to give her work (..)
    2016 TvShow: Bones Title: The Fight in the Fixer Season: 11 Episode 15