næppe

Danish

Etymology

From earlier næp (“small, low”), probably related to Old Norse hneppr (“button”) and hneppa (“pinch”), all from Proto-Germanic *knappô, *knappa-, which is perhaps related to *knappō (“knob, boy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɛb̥ə]

Adverb

næppe

1. probably not (referring to likelihood)

   Det er næppe muligt at tilfredsstille alle den her gang.

   It is probably not possible to satisfy everyone this time.

2. hardly (referring to quantity)
   • 2017, Harald Herdal, Rast undervejs, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Hun gik så helt i sit eget, så næppe noget, hørte næppe noget.

     Then, she went entirely into herself, hardly saw anything, hardly heard anything.

   • 2017, Arne Falk-Rønne, Dr. Klapperslange, Lindhardt og Ringhof, →ISBN:

     Næppe et minut efter smælder regnen ned over dem ...

     Hardly a minut later, the rain is pouring down on them ...

References

• “næppe” in Den Danske Ordbog