ne'er

10 9.9

Not ever at any time

adverb
/nɛr/

Archaic

: nunca

She will ne'er forget the kindness shown to her.

Examples

He had ne'er seen such beauty before that night.
He has ne'er seen such a beautiful sight.
She ne'er returns home before midnight.
You will ne'er convince me to change my mind.
He had ne'er seen such beauty before that night.
She will ne'er forget the kindness shown to her.
You will ne'er convince me to change my mind.

Synonyms

never

vsne'er

∞ 1.0

At no time in the past or future, not ever

is an older contracted form used mainly in past or poetic speech

nevermore

vsne'er

Archaic

9 9.9

Not at any time in the future, used in old or poetic language

covers not at any time in general not only future or poetic sense

nimmer

vsne'er

Archaic

1 9.9

At no time

is a contracted older form rather than a regional or dialect variant

Antonyms

always

∞ 1.0

On every occasion without exception

ever

∞ 1.0

At any time, often in questions or negative sentences

Compounds

ne'er-do-well

Offensive

8 9.9

A person who is lazy, irresponsible, and does not try to succeed

Surface Forms

ne'er positive

Etymology

The word ne'er is an old short form of never, from the parts ne- and ever that mean 'not' and 'ever'. So ne'er simply means 'not ever' or 'at no time' and is now used in poetry or old-style speech.