never
Syllables: nev·er/ˈnɛv.ə//ˈnɛv.ɚ/
never adverb: at no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
Adverb
never (not comparable)
- At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
- I finally finished, and I never do wanna do it again.
- We were at the same college, but happened never to meet.
- Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously.
- There is no jewel, be it of never so rich a price, which I set before this jewel: I mean your love.1601 November 30, Elizabeth I of England, Elizabeth I's Farewell Speech
- "He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!--so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!"1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC
- Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely).
- The police say I stole the car, but I never did it.
- You said you were going to mow the lawn today. – I never!
Verb
never
- Did not; didn't.
- I told him to go to Woodlands to buy durian for me. He came back and said no durian. But he some more said-ah, he got see people selling durian in Bukit Timah. I ask him-ah. Why you never buy from Bukit Timah.2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 85
- That's what he said. But I never see anything. Maybe it's an invisible dog. Or very good at hiding.2018, Jean Tay, Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Scene 12, page 73
Interjection
- A statement of defiance
- ‘Guess what, I've won the pools!’ ‘Never!’
never meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
never in Hindi
- at no time
- कभी नहीं kabhī nahī̃
never in Tamil
- ஒருபோதும், ஒருபோதும் இல்லை
never in Marathi
- कधीच नाही, कधीही नाही
never in Urdu
- at no time
- کبھی نہیں kabhī nahī̃
More languagesFewer languages
- never in Bengali
- না na
- never in Telugu
- ఎన్నడూ, ఎప్పుడూ, ఎప్పటికీ
- never in Malayalam
- ഒരിക്കലും, ഒരിക്കലുമില്ല
- never in Kannada
- ಎಂದಿಗೂ, ಎಂದಿಗೂ ಇಲ್ಲ
- never in Punjabi
- ਕਦੇ ਨਹੀਂ, ਕਦੇ ਵੀ ਨਹੀਂ
- never in Gujarati
- ક્યારેય નહીં, ક્યારેય નહિ, કદી નહીં
- never in Odia
- କଦାପି ନୁହେଁ, କେବେ ବି ନୁହେଁ, କେବେ ନୁହେଁ
- never in Sanskrit
- न कदाचित् na kadācit, न कर्हिचित na karhicita, न कदापि na kadāpi, न सदा na sadā
- never in Nepali
- कहिल्यै होइन
- never in Arabic
- أَبَدًا ʔabadan
- never in Malay
- tidak pernah, tidak akan
- never in Indonesian
- tidak pernah, tidak akan
- never in Persian
- هیچوقت hič-vaqt, هرگز hargez, ابداً abadan
- never in Thai
- ไม่เคย mâi-kəəi
- never in Vietnamese
- không bao giờ
Examples of never in a sentence
- I'll never not like you.
- He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company...
- "I never thought you were so fond of Mr.1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XXI: A New Departure in Flavorings:
- Never speak of the symptoms of your patient in his presence, unless questioned by the doctor, whose orders you are always to obey implicitly.1919, B. G. Jefferis, J. L. Nichols, Searchlights on Health: Sensible Rules for the Nurse:
Synonyms of never
- at latter Lammas
- at no time
- in the reign of Queen Dick
- ne'er
- never ever
- not while pussy's a cat
- on the second Tuesday of the week
- sine die
- when Hell freezes over
- when pigs fly
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of never
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | neva |
|---|---|
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | nevah |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | nevuh |
| alternative pronunciation-spelling | neber |
| alternative form (archaic) | ne'er |
| alternative form (archaic) | nev'r |
| alternative form (obsolete) | neuer |
Origin of never
From Middle English nevere, navere, nævere, from Old English nǣfre (“never”), equivalent to ne + ever.
Words formed from never
- never evers
- nevers
- a barking dog never bites
- a dumb priest never got a parish
- a magician never reveals his secrets
- a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor
- a watched kettle never boils
- a watched pot never boils
- a watched pot never boils over
- a wild goose never laid a tame egg
- a woman's work is never done
- barking dogs never bite
- beauty never boiled the pot
- better late than never
- blue and green should never be seen
- cheaters never prosper
- cheats never prosper
- Deadly Never-Green
- do a never
- faint heart never won fair lady
- faint heart never won fair maiden
- first of never
- I have never
- ill-gotten gains never prosper
- I never did
- I never miss
- I thought you'd never ask
- it never rains but it pours
- it never rains but that it pours
- it's never too late to mend
- I've never heard it called that before
- lightning never strikes twice
- lightning never strikes twice in the same place
- misfortunes never come alone
- misfortunes never come singly
- nearly never bulled a cow
- nearly never won the race
- never a dull moment
- never again
- never ask the barber if you need a haircut
- never-be
- never been kissed
- never change a running system
- never-do-well
- never-dying
- never eat shredded wheat
- never eat soggy waffles
- never eat soggy Weet-Bix
- never eat soggy wheat
- neverending
- never-ending
- never event
- never ever have I
- neverfade
- never fear
- never fight a land war in Asia
- never have I ever
- never in a million years
- never in a month of Sundays
- never judge a book by its cover
Phrases with never
- never was
- never ever
- never mind
- did a never
- never minds
- Never Never
- does a never
- done a never
- never ending
- never events
- never smoker
- now or never
53 more phrasesFewer phrases
- well I never
- doing a never
- never say die
- never smokers
- Never Trumper
- well, I never
- Never Trumpers
- never trust me
- never you mind
- you never know
- never say never
- never the wiser
- never sick at sea
- Deadly Never Green
- you'll never guess
- wonders never cease
- never waste a crisis
- tomorrow never comes
- the camera never lies
- better late then never
- City That Never Sleeps
- Never Ending September
- never meet your heroes
- watched toast never burns
- never the twain shall meet
- September That Never Ended
- the Internet never forgets
- often wrong, never in doubt
- September which never ended
- you're never too old to learn
- never start a land war in Asia
- you are never too old to learn
- always a bridesmaid, never a bride
- one should never meet one's heroes
- never look a gift horse in the mouth
- once you go black, you never go back
- the fox may grow grey but never good
- a magician never reveals their secrets
- always the bridesmaid, never the bride
- the apple never falls far from the tree
- lightning never strikes the same place twice
- the course of true love never did run smooth
- you never know what you've got till it's gone
- lightning never strikes in the same place twice
- you never miss the water till the well runs dry
- the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature
- you never miss the water until the well runs dry
- never put off until tomorrow what you can do today
- sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me
- sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
- sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me
- sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me
- beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you're in the clear
Words that rhyme with never
Questions about never
- What does never mean?
- Never means at no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance.
- What is never in Hindi?
- Never in Hindi is कभी नहीं (kabhī nahī̃). See Never meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use never in a sentence?
- I'll never not like you.
- What part of speech is never?
- Never can be an adverb, a verb or an interjection.
- How do you pronounce never?
- Never is pronounced /ˈnɛv.ə/ (UK).
Words near never in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: never (page history and authors); never (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); never (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-never.ogg, en-us-never.ogg.
Cite this entry: “never.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/never. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.