nigh

1 of 4

adverb

1
: near in place, time, or relationship
Morning was drawing nigh.
often used with on, onto, or unto
served … for nigh on forty yearsM. S. Tisdale
2
: nearly, almost
… once well nigh broke his neck, by a fall from one of its branches.Washington Irving

nigh

2 of 4

adjective

1
: close, near
2
chiefly dialectal : direct, short
3
: being on the left side
the nigh horse

nigh

3 of 4

preposition

: near

nigh

4 of 4

verb

nighed; nighing; nighs

transitive verb

: to draw or come near to : approach

intransitive verb

: to draw near

Examples of nigh in a Sentence

Adverb The snow is melting. Spring is nigh. It would be nigh impossible to fix it. Adjective the end is nigh Preposition a field nigh the church Verb as the hour of his death was nighing as the old man was nighing his hour of death
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
With Hillman Grad’s myriad successes, the time to begin having these conversations is nigh. Angelique Jackson, Variety, 3 Feb. 2023 Unfortunately, Divine is no longer around to star in Liarmouth, but someone call Ricki Lake — the time for a return to the Waters-ain is nigh. Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2022 The stock-market rally that started earlier this month with a soft U.S. inflation figure has started to fade, as recent statements by officials cast doubt on the idea that the end of aggressive monetary tightening is nigh. Jon Sindreu, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2022 Action must be taken now, in the lame-duck session, to put an end to this, because the witching hour is nigh and the GOP will have strong incentives to try to tank the economy. Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 21 Nov. 2022 See all Example Sentences for nigh 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nigh.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb, Adjective, Preposition, and Verb

Middle English, from Old English nēah; akin to Old High German nāh, adverb, nigh, preposition, nigh, after, Old Norse nā- nigh

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Preposition

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of nigh was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near nigh

Cite this Entry

“Nigh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nigh. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

nigh

1 of 2 adverb
1
: near in place, time, or relationship
2

nigh

2 of 2 adjective
: not far : close, near
Etymology

Adverb

Old English nēah "near, nigh" — related to near, neighbor see Word History at neighbor

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