not nearly

phrase

: 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
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.
The rest of Brun’s crew also got prison time, though their penalties were not nearly as harsh. — Guthrie Scrimgeour, Rolling Stone, 2 Aug. 2026 Balestrand is full of old stories and not nearly as many tourists as Bergen or Flåm, since no cruise ships dock there. — Winston Ross, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 Even so, experts argue the expansion is not nearly enough to offset the shortage of affordable housing of all kinds, and that the region must build more to alleviate the problem. — Luis Melecio-Zambrano, Mercury News, 23 July 2026 The wealthy are not nearly as sensitive to price as the rest of us. — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 22 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for not nearly

Rhymes for not nearly

See All Rhymes for not nearly

Browse Nearby Words

not much to look at
not nearly
not necessarily
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Not nearly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20nearly. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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