- almost; not quite; not completely
- The bottle's nearly empty.
- I've worked here for nearly two years.
- It's nearly time to leave.
- The audience was nearly all men.
- He's nearly as tall as you are.
- They're nearly always late.
- She very nearly died.
- It's nearly impossible to get tickets for her gigs.
- Sales have nearly doubled this year.
Which Word? almost / nearly / practicallyalmost / nearly / practicallyThese three words have similar meanings and are used frequently with the following words:almost ~ nearly ~ practically ~ certainly (numbers) all all all every every always no entirely every nothing impossible finished impossible empty died anything - They are used in positive sentences:
- She almost/nearly/practically missed her train.
- Nearly all the students have bikes.
- I’ve got practically every CD they’ve made.
- There were nearly 200 people at the meeting.
- We only just got there in time.
- We almost/nearly didn’t get there in time.
- Almost and practically can be used before words like any, anybody, anything, etc:
- I’ll eat almost anything.
- She’s hardly ever in
- She’s almost never in
- Almost can be used when you are saying that one thing is similar to another:
- The boat looked almost like a toy.
- In British English you can use very and so before nearly:
- He was very nearly caught.
Extra Examples- She nearly missed her train.
- There were nearly 200 people at the meeting.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryNearly is used with these adjectives:- asleep
- bald
- bankrupt
- …
Idioms
See nearly in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee nearly in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishnot nearly
- much less than; not at all
- It's not nearly as hot as last year.
- There isn't nearly enough time to get there now.
pretty nearly (British English)
(North American English pretty near)
(also pretty much/well British and North American English)
- (informal) almost; almost completely
- The first stage is pretty nearly finished.
Check pronunciation:
nearly