Collocations for "scarcely"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "scarcely" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2026
scarcely
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.adv
- (can) scarcely remember [why, when, how, what]
- can scarcely [see, hear, feel]
- could scarcely believe [her eyes, what he was seeing]
- is scarcely able to [read, walk, run, write]
- was scarcely alive after the [crash, accident, explosion]
- was scarcely alive when we found her
- scarcely a [day, minute, moment] goes by without
- scarcely a [day] goes by that I don't [remember, think about, consider]
- was [over, finished] in scarcely [10 minutes]
- it took scarcely [10 minutes] to [finish, do]
- scarcely [followed. understood] the [speaker, plot, movie]
- could scarcely [follow] the [speaker]
- the [bananas, vegetables, avocados] are scarcely ripe
- scarcely-populated [countries, areas, regions]
- a scarcely-populated part of the country
- this is scarcely the time to [ask, suggest, propose]
- I scarcely have time to [eat, think, sleep] as it is
- could scarcely have done anything [different, else]
- is scarcely my idea of [a good time, fun]
- scarcely had I [sat down, arrived home] when
'scarcely' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):