Barely
Barely adverb - By a very small margin.
Not enough and barely are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Not enough" instead an adverb "Barely".
Not enough
Barely and not enough are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Barely" instead an adverb phrase "Not enough".
Both terms in one sentence
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This manoeuvre would leave them with barely enough supply for 100k troops - not enough to stage a breakout, and not enough to maintain an effective defense either.
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Later in Small-Town Heroes, a D-Class superpowered character joins the villains because being barely tougher and stronger than normal humans is not enough.
Source: I Just Want to Be Special - Poppy-seed muffins and cakes do contain trace amounts of opium; not enough to affect the human body, but just barely enough to make a person test positive on a drug test.
Source: Mistaken for Junkie
Cite this Source
Not enough and Barely. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_enough
Barely & Not enough. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_enough>.
Not enough or Barely. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_enough.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "barely" and "not enough" have occurred on timeline