come close

idiom

1

: to almost do something

We didn't win, but we came close.

—often + to

The band came very close to breaking up.

We came close to winning the championship this season.

2

: to be similar to something or as good as expected

She said they taste just like real hot dogs, but they don't even come close (to the real thing).

Examples of come close in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The sizable disparity has led economists—when such proposals were previously made—to question whether tariffs could come close to offsetting the fiscal impacts of abolishing income tax while still allowing the government to pare down the national debt. —Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2025

Since 1945, thankfully, Japan and China have engaged in plenty of wars of words, but never once come close to a physical clash with each other. —Kerry Brown, Time, 28 Nov. 2025

But OpenAI’s sales do not come close. —Max Zahn, ABC News, 28 Nov. 2025

The Washington Wizards, who entered the evening with the NBA’s worst record, took a commanding, 29-point lead in the first quarter and never let Atlanta come close again. —Fred Katz, New York Times, 26 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for come close

• adios
• adipose
• amylose
• bellicose
• cellulose
• centavos
• comatose
• diagnose
• grandiose
• granulose
• levulose
• overdose