not nearly
idiom
: much less than : not at all
There's not nearly enough flour for a cake here.
It's not nearly as late as I thought it was.
Examples of not nearly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
As the journalist Kardas-Nelson shows in this impressive book, the true picture of microfinance was not nearly so rosy.
—
Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Yet, through his villains, Johnson has always made clear that the how of Knives Out is not nearly as important as the why.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
That was not nearly as much as Jim had feared.
—Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2025
But as hazardous as that sounds, too large is not nearly as insulting as too small.
—Irv Erdos, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not nearly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Yet, through his villains, Johnson has always made clear that the how of Knives Out is not nearly as important as the why.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
That was not nearly as much as Jim had feared.
—Natasha Abellard, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2025
But as hazardous as that sounds, too large is not nearly as insulting as too small.
—Irv Erdos, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not nearly
Cite this Entry
“Not nearly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20nearly. Accessed 23 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share