different between sternly vs hardly
sternly
English
Etymology
From Middle English sternly, sternely, sterneliche, sturnely, sturneliche, from Old English stirnl??e, styrnl??e, stiernl??e (“harshly; severely; sternly”), equivalent to stern +? -ly.
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: stûrn?l?, IPA(key): /?st?nli/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?st??nli/
- Hyphenation: stern?ly
Adverb
sternly (comparative more sternly, superlative most sternly)
- In a stern manner.
sternly From the web:
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hardly
English
Etymology
From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardl??e (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard +? -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?h??dli/
- (US) IPA(key): /?h??dli/,
Adverb
hardly (comparative hardlier or more hardly, superlative hardliest or most hardly)
- (manner, obsolete) Firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.
- , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.148:
- Let him hardly be possest with an honest curiositie to search out the nature and causes of all things […].
- , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.148:
- (manner, archaic) Harshly, severely; in a hard manner.
- (now rare) With difficulty.
- , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.234:
- And what gentle flame soever doth warme the heart of young virgins, yet are they hardly drawne to leave and forgoe their mothers, to betake them to their husbands […].
- 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, page 40:
- While in Chelsea, Anne Smiley pined, taking very hardly to her unaccustomed role of wife abandoned.
- , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.234:
- (degree) Barely, only just, almost not.
Usage notes
- In the modern sense "barely", it is grammatically a negative word. It therefore collocates with ever rather than never.
- Compare example sentence with I almost never watch television
- Because of the anomalous sense of this word, expressions such as "hardly working" have an opposite meaning to what the etymology ("hard" + "-ly") would suggest. "Working hard" suggests that considerable work is being done, whereas "hardly working" suggests that very little work is being done.
Synonyms
- (barely, almost not or not quite): barely, just, only just, scarcely
Translations
Interjection
hardly
- Not really.
- I think the Beatles are a really overrated band. ? Hardly!
hardly From the web:
- what hardly means
- what hardly ever hms pinafore
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- what hardly conduct heat at all
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- what's hardly in german
- what hardly used
- what hardly any
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