nearly
- adverb
- /ˈnɪrli/
- She is nearly finished with her project; only a few tasks remain.
- nearly half
- nearly a year
- nearly 50 percent
And yeah, that was nearly three years ago now.
- And yeah, that was nearly three years ago now.
- You don't need to exercise nearly as much as you think.
- They have worked at this for nearly five decades.
- Without minority voters, Democrats would lose nearly every election.
- And that was like, you know, nearly nine years ago.
- But feeling better doesn't take nearly as much time as we think it will.
- Not hitting or other assaultive behaviors nearly as much as throwing.
- She says over the last nearly two years.
- There were some, but not nearly what was required for this moment.
Examples
-
Today the public schools are nearly all black, and the private schools all white.
Academic text (2011) -
Shops and schools were closed, commerce nearly ground to a halt.
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And when the waiting was nearly over, guess what we did?
-
And that was like, you know, nearly nine years ago.
-
There were some, but not nearly what was required for this moment.
-
My son is also nearly eight.
-
But you spent nearly all last week there.
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The settings will nearly always be cities.
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But feeling better doesn't take nearly as much time as we think it will.
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We're nearly there.
Synonyms
Not exact but near a number, amount, or time
Almost completely but not quite
Almost right, but not exactly
Almost but not completely
Almost complete but not fully finished
Near the exact number or amount
About a number or amount that is not exact
About a number or idea, not exact but close enough
Almost happening or becoming true
Very near in time, place, or degree
Almost but not completely
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Nearly comes from near ('close') plus the ending -ly, so it originally meant 'in a close way'. So, nearly means 'almost but not completely'.