nowhere near
nowhere near
Meaning
- not similar at all.
- completely unlike.
- not nearly.
- a great deal less.
Example Sentences
- She’s nowhere near recovered from her experiences.
- Although the operation had already gone on for eight hours, it was nowhere near complete.
- The sofa he sat on was nowhere near as comfy as the custom-designed one in his home.
- Even though I perform well in math, I’m nowhere near as good as my sister.
- The design is nowhere near what I expected. You must start over with the project.
- Their home is nowhere near as beautiful as yours.
- My home is nowhere near finished.
Origin
This idiom comes from two words: nowhere and near. As an adverb, “nowhere” means not in any state or situation. The word has been in use since 1803. Nowhere is a noun that means a non-existent place or an inaccessible or remote place. That’s why people use the phrase “in the middle of nowhere.” As a verb, the other word in the idiom means to approach. As an adjective, it means being close, not far, and has been in use since 1300. When people use the idiom “nowhere near” in front of an expression or word, they emphasize that the real situation is significantly different from or has not reached the state that that expression or word suggests.
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