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as in almost
very close to but not completely
I nearly fell down the stairs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples of nearly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The asteroid was one of five that would pass by Earth last week, but the other rocky objects were not expected to come nearly as close as 2024 ON.
—
Greg Wehner, Fox News, 24 Sep. 2024
Eaton and Dover don’t have nearly as much China exposure.
—Matthew J. Belvedere,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2024
Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at his trial on multiple fraud charges last November.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 24 Sep. 2024
By 2018, there had been more than 28,000—nearly a tenfold increase in just five years.
—Ryan Hampton, TIME, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nearly 
Greg Wehner, Fox News, 24 Sep. 2024
Eaton and Dover don’t have nearly as much China exposure.
—Matthew J. Belvedere,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2024
Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at his trial on multiple fraud charges last November.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 24 Sep. 2024
By 2018, there had been more than 28,000—nearly a tenfold increase in just five years.
—Ryan Hampton, TIME, 24 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for nearly
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nearly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near nearly
Cite this Entry
“Nearly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nearly. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.
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