hardly

From Middle English hardely, hardliche, from Old English heardlīċe (“boldly; hardily; without ease; in a way that causes pain; not easily; only by degrees”), equivalent to hard +‎ -ly. Compare Dutch hardelijk, German härtlich.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑːdli/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑɹdli/,

  Audio (US)

  (file)

hardly (comparative hardlier or more hardly, superlative hardliest or most hardly)

1. (manner, obsolete) Firmly, vigorously, with strength or exertion.
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     , 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 […].

2. (manner, archaic) Harshly, severely.

   I can't really deal hardly with people.

3. (now rare) With difficulty.
   • 1603, John Florio, transl.; Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, […], printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     , 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.

4. (degree) Barely, only just, almost not.
   • 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1-2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:

     With this the second of three games in seven days for Stoke, it was hardly surprising to see nine changes from the side that started against Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday.

   • 2013 July 6, “The rise of smart beta”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8843, page 68:

     Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return.

   they hardly ever watch television;  I hardly think they'll come in this bad weather;  it's hardly possible he could lose the election.

In the 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

• (barely, almost not or not quite): barely, just, only just, scarcely

hardly

1. Not really.

   I think the Beatles are a really overrated band. ― Hardly!