Flannery O'ConnorGeorge Bernard ShawSir Winston ChurchillNevil ShuteE. Barrington (Elizabeth Louisa Moresby Beck)Osbert Sitwell
Can hardly be used with a negative?: Usage Guide
Hardly in sense 1d is used sometimes with not for emphasis.
In sense 1e with a negative verb (such as can't, wouldn't, didn't) it does not make a double negative but softens the negative. In "you can't hardly find a red one," the sense is that you can find a red one, but only with difficulty; in "you can't find a red one," the sense is that red ones are simply not available. Use of hardly with a negative verb is a speech form; it is most commonly heard in Southern and Midland speech areas. In other speech areas and in all discursive prose, hardly is normally used with a positive.
Synonyms
Examples of hardly in a Sentence
Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 13 Apr. 2024
Nate Home by Nate Berkus hardly ever goes on sale at Amazon, so don't miss the assortment of markdowns happening now.
—Clara McMahon, Peoplemag, 12 Apr. 2024
Still, the mood on the Geek Squad subreddit—hardly a scientific sample but indicative of sentiment—was glum.
—Eoin Higgins, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024
News coverage reflected a growing — though hardly universal — sentiment that this trial could be payback for the criminal acquittal.
—David Wharton, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
However, research from economic professors at UC Berkeley and the University of Victoria argues the data from past minimum wage gains hardly affected fast-food chains, helped retain workers and price increases were marginal.
—Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Apr. 2024
This year, security is tight and hardly anyone is allowed to cross into Israel.
—Rob Schmitz, NPR, 12 Apr. 2024
Indeed, in recent decades, Congress has hardly ever stuck to that timeline.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2024
In some ways, the fate of legalized pot could be read as a cautionary tale for how these drugs, too, could be left in a limbo that hardly anyone really likes.
—Jane C. Hu, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hardly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near hardly
Cite this Entry
“Hardly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hardly. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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