not nearly
idiom
: much less than : not at all
There's not nearly enough flour for a cake here.
It's not nearly as late as I thought it was.
Examples of not nearly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The short answer is quite a bit, but not nearly enough.
—
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
Broadcom is strong on margins, though not nearly as strong as Nvidia – the operating margin of 31.9% in Q4 was slightly over half of Nvidia’s 62.3%, with a net margin of 29.8% versus Nvidia’s 55.0%.
—Beth Kindig, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Average inflation was increasing in 1990 at 5.4%, not nearly as high as the 8% rise in 2022.
—Javier Zarracina, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
The second time around, however, was not nearly as fun.
—EW.com, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for not nearly 
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Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
Broadcom is strong on margins, though not nearly as strong as Nvidia – the operating margin of 31.9% in Q4 was slightly over half of Nvidia’s 62.3%, with a net margin of 29.8% versus Nvidia’s 55.0%.
—Beth Kindig, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Average inflation was increasing in 1990 at 5.4%, not nearly as high as the 8% rise in 2022.
—Javier Zarracina, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
The second time around, however, was not nearly as fun.
—EW.com, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for not nearly
Dictionary Entries Near not nearly
Cite this Entry
“Not nearly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20nearly. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
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