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

Though her substance use wouldn’t reach the breaking point until the mid-eighties, Stevie experienced a flood of health issues and near misses well beforehand. — Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2026

In the last two years alone, PSG have won nine trophies — and finally become the dominant force in Europe after years of frustrating near misses. — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026

The evolution of terrorism Law enforcement spends much of its focus on plots that happened and attacks that became near misses through hapless bad actors. — Mark Morales, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026

Shelton has had plenty of near misses, which made this victory feel like a breakthrough. — Dan Zaksheske Outkick, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 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