How to Use next to nothing in a Sentence

next to nothing

idiomatic phrase
  • Thompson is cut loose by the Padres and signs with the Tigers, who sell his contract to the Dodgers for next to nothing.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2022
  • They’re controlled with long, thin lines that weigh next to nothing.
    Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2023
  • The Bears did next to nothing on offense after their first drive.
    Steve Kroner, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Oct. 2021
  • The chances of anyone in such a role making so sensible a point out loud nine months ago were next to nothing.
    Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 20 Oct. 2021
  • His neighbors were the Hells Angels, who had purchased the tenement next to him presumably for next to nothing in 1969.
    John Tamny, Forbes, 18 May 2022
  • To date, the podcast industry has said next to nothing about its embrace of this video-game strategy.
    Time, 27 Sep. 2022
  • The adjuncting gig was necessary but paid next to nothing.
    Joshua Ferris, The New Yorker, 30 May 2022
  • For the first few decades, the house had a somber brick facade, which revealed next to nothing of the elaborate interior layout.
    J.s. Marcus, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2021
  • The result is that many artists make next to nothing on streaming platforms — no matter how devoted their fans are.
    Palak Jayswal, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 July 2022
  • Elon Musk has barely paid any taxes so far Like many of the world’s wealthiest magnates, Musk has paid next to nothing in taxes so far.
    Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 20 Dec. 2021
  • This picture, which is also at MoMA, seemed next to nothing: a 34-by-42-inch image of a bunch of plastic bottles and boxes.
    Vulture, 9 Sep. 2022
  • Let the Treasury directly fund loans with rates roughly equivalent to what the U.S. pays on bonds, otherwise known right now as next to nothing.
    Erik Sherman, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021
  • But such a description says next to nothing about the actual experience of watching the film.
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2023
  • The only drawback of the concert, which moved almost too quickly through its 90 minutes, was the lack of banter from SZA, who said next to nothing to the audience outside her songs.
    Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Special to the Journal Sentinel There was a time when a spring election for judge told you next to nothing about a fall election for president or governor.
    Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2023
  • But after adjusting for inflation, the gain was next to nothing, only 0.5%.
    Scott Burns, Dallas News, 12 Aug. 2022
  • This plastic bottle weighs next to nothing and can hold up to 32 ounces, which requires less refills throughout the day to achieve optimal water intake.
    Alyssa Brascia, PEOPLE.com, 22 July 2022
  • As their wealth has soared to levels never before reached in human history, many have paid next to nothing on their tens of billions of dollars of capital gains.
    Jeffrey Sachs, CNN, 4 Sep. 2021
  • Barry Dean knew next to nothing about wheelchairs before his daughter, Katherine, needed one.
    Dan Catchpole, Fortune, 2 Dec. 2021
  • Manchester friends recall her owning next to nothing: just her motorcycle boots, a few books, a leather bag, and drug paraphernalia.
    Brian Dillon, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2022
  • Despite a rule in the state Constitution limiting bills to a single subject, ideas with next to nothing in common are routinely mashed into single bills and passed at light speed.
    Jake Zuckerman, cleveland, 19 Dec. 2022
  • In doing so, Crumpton revealed a similar amount of skin as that of the Tongan athlete Pita Taufatofua, who gained fame for walking in next to nothing during the 2018 ceremony.
    Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 4 Feb. 2022
  • It was written in five days by Georgi Gerganov, a Bulgarian programmer who, by his own admission, knows next to nothing about speech recognition.
    James Somers, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2023
  • PhysicsAI, in Pacifica, California, fielded a four-man squad who knew next to nothing about aerial combat.
    The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Unlike his predecessor, Bruce Cassidy, Montgomery offers next to nothing to the public about his charges’ shortcomings.
    Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Dec. 2022
  • What appears to be happening here is just an effort to fill the silence about Fable, given that next to nothing has been shown about the game yet, and that has led to an idea that development is experiencing trouble.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes, 3 Jan. 2023
  • Astronomers now know of more than 5,000 exoplanets but know next to nothing about most of them—their composition, environmental conditions or even prospects for life.
    Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2023
  • At the other end, the Rockets gave up next to nothing defensively with Horry being a potent shot-blocker and low-post defender and Elie being a menacing defender despite his size.
    Rahat Huq, Chron, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Bronson and his officials have said next to nothing about Demboski’s departure, calling it a personnel manner when asked about it by reporters and an Assembly member during a Tuesday night meeting.
    Emily Goodykoontz, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Dec. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'next to nothing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: