as in near
not being distant in time, space, or significance
the end is nigh
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in close
at, within, or to a short distance or time
have worked for them for nigh on 10 years
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in almost
very close to but not completely
he has nigh completed his degree
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to close
to come near or nearer
as the hour of his death was nighing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nigh
Angelique Jackson, Variety, 3 Feb. 2023
Unfortunately, Divine is no longer around to star in Liarmouth, but someone call Ricki Lake — the time for a return to the Waters-ain is nigh.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2022
The stock-market rally that started earlier this month with a soft U.S. inflation figure has started to fade, as recent statements by officials cast doubt on the idea that the end of aggressive monetary tightening is nigh.
—Jon Sindreu, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022
Action must be taken now, in the lame-duck session, to put an end to this, because the witching hour is nigh and the GOP will have strong incentives to try to tank the economy.
—Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 21 Nov. 2022
See all Example Sentences for nigh 
Adverb
With Hillman Grad’s myriad successes, the time to begin having these conversations is nigh.
—Angelique Jackson, Variety, 3 Feb. 2023
Unfortunately, Divine is no longer around to star in Liarmouth, but someone call Ricki Lake — the time for a return to the Waters-ain is nigh.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2022
The stock-market rally that started earlier this month with a soft U.S. inflation figure has started to fade, as recent statements by officials cast doubt on the idea that the end of aggressive monetary tightening is nigh.
—Jon Sindreu, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022
Action must be taken now, in the lame-duck session, to put an end to this, because the witching hour is nigh and the GOP will have strong incentives to try to tank the economy.
—Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 21 Nov. 2022
See all Example Sentences for nigh
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nigh
Adjective
-
The State Department’s Extended Continental Shelf Project works out of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building in Boulder, Colorado, some 800 miles from the nearest ocean.—
Jack Truesdale,
The Atlantic,
25 Jan. 2025
-
This Week The guidelines are so that for all cash transactions, the final digit was rounded down to the nearest nickel.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
24 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg has introduced new company policies, such as cutting back on moderation and scrapping the platform’s fact-checking system, as he’s grown closer with the Trump administration.—
Britney Nguyen,
Quartz,
24 Jan. 2025
-
When looking at full 162 game seasons, that number tied a career-best for the 32-year-old closer.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
24 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
Cancer incidence is also higher in certain racial minority populations—for example, the cancer mortality rate in Black men is 16 percent higher than in white men, and Hispanic people are almost twice as likely to acquire stomach or liver cancer than white people.—
Barbara A. Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Jan. 2025
-
The split emerged during the pandemic and has become more entrenched in the almost five years since.—
Maya Goldman,
Axios,
28 Jan. 2025
Preposition
-
In the lead-up to Augustine’s summer opening, Lee has hosted preview dinners around the city at restaurants like Navy Blue and Riel.—
Kate Kassin,
Bon Appétit,
28 Jan. 2025
-
The attack took place around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, as all four were inside an off-campus house near the University of Idaho. Kohberger, at the time, was a Ph.D. student studying criminology at Washington State University, which is just 10 miles away from the crime scene.—
Michael Ruiz,
Fox News,
28 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
What After his lawsuit made headlines, Baldoni was approached by TMZ at the Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 17 while traveling with his wife and kids.—
Benjamin VanHoose,
People.com,
25 Jan. 2025
-
An entrepreneur even approached Hunter recently with ambitions of including Highland on a bus tour of famous jazz musicians’ graves for European tourists during the 2026 World Cup.—
Natalie Wallington,
Kansas City Star,
25 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
At this point, teams like the New York Yankees and the Astros are reportedly out of the race to bring Bregman in. Other than that, there are plenty of teams left vying for the franchise-altering star.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Within hours of his swearing in, Trump revoked Biden executive orders to weave DEI into the fabric of the federal government.—
Jessica Guynn,
USA TODAY,
23 Jan. 2025
Adverb
-
But for practically every Redditor who weighed in, the answer was no.—
Barbara A. Perry,
Newsweek,
27 Jan. 2025
-
The challenge lies in the inability to consistently measure copper content in scrap, as running lab tests every hour is practically impossible.—
Svetlana Khachiyan,
USA TODAY,
27 Jan. 2025
Preposition
-
The most gifted fashion choices are saved for Chloë Sevigny sitting beside Tim Heidecker as military talking heads who never bother to stand up from their chairs.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
31 Jan. 2025
-
The camera slowly zooms in and out at nothing as Shackleton talks us through the night when a man named George Russell Tucker pulled up beside Lafferty in that very spot one night in the mid ’70s.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
28 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near nigh
Cite this Entry
“Nigh.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nigh. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share