near miss

noun

variants or less commonly near-miss

1

a

: a miss (as with a bomb) close enough to cause damage

b

: something that falls just short of success

2

a

: a near collision (as between aircraft)

b

: close call

Synonyms of near miss

• narrow escape
• close call
• hairbreadth escape
• close shave
• near escape

Examples of near miss in a Sentence

After years of near misses, the team has finally won a championship.

a near miss with death prompted him to give up skydiving

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, despite these questions, unlike the previous three seasons of near misses, where Arsenal finished second to a more relentless rival, there is no real candidate who looks capable of unseating them this time. —Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026

After two near misses on the Gophers empty net, Minnesota had a flutter in front of the Spartans goal in the final 10 seconds that went for naught before the final horn. —Staff Report, Twin Cities, 24 Jan. 2026

Air travelers have already encountered near misses, such as when a test flight of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle last year scattered debris across a swath of the Caribbean and forced aircraft to take evasive action. —Lee Billings, Scientific American, 21 Jan. 2026

Those near misses helped extend Ole Miss drives at times. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for near miss

• abyss
• amiss
• chlamys
• dismiss
• premiss
• remiss
• bis
• bliss
• criss
• dis
• diss
• hiss