nearly

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nearly

/ˈnɪəli/ UK
/ˈnɪːlɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˈnɪɹli/ Canada, US
/ˈniəli/ New Zealand
/ˈniɾle/ Scotland
/-lɪ/ Scotland
/-li/ Scotland
/ˈnɛːli/

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)li

Where it comes from

From near + -ly. Cognate with Scots nerelie, neirlie (“nearly”). Compare also English nearling, nearlings.

adverb nearlier · more nearly · nearliest · most nearly · nerely · nerly

In close approximation; almost, virtually. He left a nearly full beer on the bar.
Similar: environ
archaic With great scrutiny; carefully. And whosoever hath traced mee and nearely [translating de pres] looked into my humours, Ile loose a good wager if hee confesse not that there is no rule in their schoole, could, a midde such crooked pathes and divers windings, square and report this naturall motion, and maintaine an apparance of lib
With close relation; intimately. Let that which he learns next be nearly conjoined with what he knows already.
Closely, in close proximity. I doubt some danger do's approach you neerely.
Stingily.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: almost, well-nigh, virtually, just about, all but, near, nigh, about, closely, most, intimately, nearby, approximately, some, approx, vicinity

adverb

Translations

Every language

adv almost, but not quite

한국어	거의 geoui
日本語	大方 ōkata, 殆ど hotondo
中文	幾乎 /几乎 jīhū, 差不多 chàbuduō
हिन्दी	लगभग lagbhag
Português	quase
Français	presque
Deutsch	beinahe, fast
Italiano	quasi, praticamente, circa
Ελληνικά	σχεδόν schedón, παραλίγο paralígo
Русский	почти́ počtí, о́коло ókolo, приблизи́тельно priblizítelʹno, чуть не čutʹ ne
Tiếng Việt	gần, gần như
العربية	تَقْرِيبًا taqrīban
עברית	כִּמְעַט kim'át

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MLA

"nearly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/nearly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

nearly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/nearly

Chicago

"nearly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/nearly.

BibTeX

@misc{nearly_2026,
  title = {nearly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/nearly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}