Difference between Hardly and Barely

HARDLY vs BARELY: ADVERB

By a small margin
In a sparse or scanty way
By a very little; hardly.
In a scanty manner; sparsely.
Without covering; nakedly.
Without concealment or disguise.
But just; without any excess; with nothing to spare (of quantity, time, etc.); hence, scarcely; hardly.
Almost not at all.
Merely.

Slowly and with difficulty
Not softly or tenderly; roughly; severely; unfavorably; inimically.
By hard work; with difficulty.
Not quite or completely; only approximately; scarcely: as, it is hardly strong enough; that is hardly true.
Barely; narrowly; almost not at all: as, hardly any; hardly ever.
Not probably; with little likelihood: as, he will hardly come to-day.

Merely; only.
Only just; no more than; with nothing over or to spare: as, she is barely sixteen.
Scantily; poorly: as, a man barely clad, or a room barely furnished.
Nakedly; openly; without disguise or concealment.
Almost not
By a little
Only a very short time before

Simply, Merely, Almost, Probably, Little, Only, Practically, Surely, Not, Rarely, Seldom, Scarce, Just, Barely, Scarcely

Not, Badly, Little, Almost, Nearly, Seldom, Rarely, Even, Practically, Only, Scarce, Scantily, Just, Hardly, Scarcely

Simply, Merely, Almost, Probably, Little, Only, Practically, Surely, Not, Rarely, Seldom, Scarce, Just, Barely, Scarcely

Not, Badly, Little, Almost, Nearly, Seldom, Rarely, Even, Practically, Only, Scarce, Scantily, Just, Hardly, Scarcely

However, Nate Diaz is hardly an active competitor.
Nick hardly ever did the dirty work himself.
Summer arrived, and I could hardly do anything.
For big gears like this it hardly matters.
Hardly petite fille bresil huarascan peru water evenwicht?
Natasha hardly felt any effect from the champagne.
Incidentally, the cotton was hardly by free enterprise.
Blunt and direct, she was hardly a pushover.
Prior to the housing bubble in America, voluntary foreclosures were hardly used, and the phrase itself was hardly mentioned.
We hardly throw away expired food cause we hardly have any around.

Like, I could barely even move my legs.
It barely peeled any skin off my feet.
In an adhesion contract, the parties barely negotiate.
Upstage, where the light could barely reach them.
Gilbert has barely been off our television screens.
He could barely sit or walk without pain.
This diver must be just barely buoyant that is, it must just barely float.
Scandinavian climate, where half the year the sun barely sets, and the other it barely tops the horizon.
The future belongs to the young men, who are barely of age and barely realizing their freedom.
My barely salvaged heart could barely stand the risk of being dinged yet again.