Barely
Barely adverb - By a very small margin.
Not nearly and barely are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Not nearly" instead an adverb "Barely".
Not nearly
Barely and not nearly are semantically related. You can use "Barely" instead an adverb phrase "Not nearly".
Mutual synonyms
Both terms in one sentence
- While not nearly as angsty or drama-milking as other series, there's barely a character in Baccano!!
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She's not nearly as good at it, though — it takes her forty years to build a rudimentary body for herself, and although she's able to affect a slow Healing Factor, it's barely a roadblock for the X-Men.
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Villain Protagonist: While he's not nearly as bad as Humbert, Albinus is still sort of an asshole, abandoning his wife for a not-even-barely-legal girl, jealous of Rex because Margot prefers him over him, etc.
Cite this Source
Not nearly and Barely. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 01, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_nearly
Barely & Not nearly. N.p., 2016. Web. 01 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_nearly>.
Not nearly or Barely. 2016. Accessed August 01, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/barely/not_nearly.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "barely" and "not nearly" have occurred on timeline