nearest
Syllables: near·estUK/ˈnɪəɹɪst//ˈnɪɹɪst/
nearest is the superlative form of near.
Meaning of near
Adjective
near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)
- Physically close.
- I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.
- Close in time.
- The end is near.
- Closely connected or related.
- The deceased man had no near relatives.
- Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
- It is a matter of near consequence to me.
- Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
- a version near to the original
- So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
- a near escape
Preposition
nearest
- Closest to.
- Mercury is the planet nearest the Sun.
- Fastening one end of this at that point of the trunk of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it till it reached the peg and thence further unrolled it, in the direction already established by the two points of the tree and the peg, for the distance of fifty feet[…]1843, Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold-Bug
Synonyms of nearest
Words formed from nearest
Questions about nearest
- What does nearest mean?
- Nearest means closest to.
- What is nearest the superlative form of?
- Nearest is the superlative form of near.
- What part of speech is nearest?
- Nearest is a preposition.
- How do you pronounce nearest?
- Nearest is pronounced /ˈnɪəɹɪst/ (UK).
Words near nearest in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: nearest (page history and authors); near (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-nearest.ogg.
Cite this entry: “nearest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nearest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.