nearly

adverb

near·​ly ˈnir-lē 

1

: in a close manner or relationship

nearly related

2

a

: almost but not quite

nearly identical

nearly a year later

b

: to the least extent

not nearly as good as we expected

Synonyms

• closely
• near

Examples of nearly in a Sentence

I see her nearly every day.

We lived there for nearly two years.

Nearly all of us got sick that weekend.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Niners nearly doubled the overall offensive output of the Bucs. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024

Evans led by 2,596 votes as of 10:52 p.m., up nearly 400 votes from a few hours earlier in the evening. —John Aguilar, The Denver Post, 10 Nov. 2024

Of the 23 projects, our research shows that 13 appear to be on track, with total planned capital investments in excess of $40 billion and nearly 352 gigawatt-hours per year of capacity. —James Morton Turner, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2024

The drive nearly ended a few plays earlier when Joe Burrow was picked off, but the potential interception was overturned to incomplete on replay. —NBC News, 8 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1561, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing nearly

• nearly gave someone a heart attack
• not nearly
• pretty near/nearly

Kids Definition

nearly

adverb

near·​ly ˈni(ə)r-lē 

1

: in a close manner or relationship

nearly related

2

: almost but not quite

nearly the same

nearly missed the train

3

: to the least extent

not nearly enough