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
The president’s tariffs have generated some revenue to reduce the deficit, but not nearly enough.
—
Hersh Shefrin, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The truth not nearly as material to the show’s success as is the need for viewers to actually care about the answer.
—Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2025
That's not nearly enough for White, who could easily fetch $25-30 million per season on the open market.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
The nature of the preseason is that there’s not nearly as much opponent-specific prep work as there is during the regular season.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 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.
Hersh Shefrin, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2025
The truth not nearly as material to the show’s success as is the need for viewers to actually care about the answer.
—Brande Victorian, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 2025
That's not nearly enough for White, who could easily fetch $25-30 million per season on the open market.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Aug. 2025
The nature of the preseason is that there’s not nearly as much opponent-specific prep work as there is during the regular season.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 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 10 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share