► almostonly a little less than completely: I’m almost finished. Are we almost there?
► nearly almost: It will take nearly two hours to get there. We were nearly killed in an accident.
► practically informal very nearly but not quite. You do not use practically before numbers: It’s practically impossible to get tickets to the show.
► virtually practically. Virtually is more formal than practically and you do not use it before numbers or other adverbs: Virtually all the children go to school by bus.
► more or less almost. You use more or less when the difference between a description and the exact truth is small and not important: The movie’s plot is more or less the same as every other Hollywood romance.
► just about informal almost: I play basketball just about every day.
► pretty much informal just about. Used especially in spoken English: The day was pretty much a disaster – everything went wrong.
► hardly almost none, or almost not at all: He doesn’t have many friends and hardly anyone visits him.
► barely almost not: He was speaking so quietly that I could barely hear him.
► scarcely scarcely means the same as hardly but is slightly more formal: Because of the fog, the hills were scarcely visible.