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
This time around, the competitive zone is not nearly as populated.
—
Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2026
Height is often a factor, but not nearly as much as location.
—Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 5 Jan. 2026
There are a few strong building blocks (De’Von Achane, Aaron Brewer, Patrick Paul, Jordyn Brooks), but not nearly enough of them.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Jan. 2026
Computer simulations showed that any methane on TRAPPIST-1e would be rapidly destroyed by intense ultraviolet radiation, surviving only about 200,000 years — not nearly long enough for geological processes to replenish it.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 Dec. 2025
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Washington Post, 6 Jan. 2026
Height is often a factor, but not nearly as much as location.
—Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 5 Jan. 2026
There are a few strong building blocks (De’Von Achane, Aaron Brewer, Patrick Paul, Jordyn Brooks), but not nearly enough of them.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Jan. 2026
Computer simulations showed that any methane on TRAPPIST-1e would be rapidly destroyed by intense ultraviolet radiation, surviving only about 200,000 years — not nearly long enough for geological processes to replenish it.
—Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 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 12 Jan. 2026.
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