Scarcely means barely or only just, often indicating that something almost didn't happen or exists in such a small amount that it's hardly worth mentioning. When you scarcely have time to finish your homework before dinner, you're cutting it extremely close. If you can scarcely believe your eyes when you see a shooting star, you're so amazed that it seems almost impossible.

The word often appears with “any” or “ever” to emphasize how little of something there is: “We had scarcely any snow this winter” means you got almost none. “She had scarcely left the house when it started raining” means the rain began just moments after she walked out the door.

Scarcely can also suggest insufficiency or inadequacy. If a meal is scarcely enough to feed everyone, there's not quite as much food as needed. If someone is scarcely ten years old, they've only recently turned ten.

The word carries a tone of something being inadequate, insufficient, or just barely meeting the minimum. It's stronger than simply saying “barely” because it can express surprise or emphasize how close you came to not having or doing something at all.