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

• 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

Despite all the success of his 2025 Tour, was a tiny part of Healy still dwelling on that near miss? —Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025

In recent months, Duffy has pledged to revamp air safety protocols and increase air traffic control staffers following issues with aviation communications and near misses at airports. —Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 29 July 2025

While some videos showcase the system successfully avoiding collisions with animals and pedestrians, others reveal malfunctions and near misses. —Charles Singh, USA Today, 18 July 2025

Under Duffy’s leadership, the department has pledged to make changes to the nation’s air traffic control system, after a string of crashes and near misses. —Chantelle Lee, Time, 10 July 2025

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