Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use nearly in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb

Nearly means in close approximation; almost, virtually. Example: “He left a nearly full beer on the bar.”

Examples of nearly by meaning

adverbIn close approximation; almost, virtually.

  • He left a nearly full beer on the bar.
  • I nearly didn't go to work yesterday.
  • And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

More sentences with nearly

  • His bit about video games was not nearly as entertaining as the other segments of his show.From the entry bit
  • I'm feeling peckish; I think it must be nearly dinner o'clock.From the entry o'clock
  • The temperature in the room dropped nearly 20 degrees; it went from hot to cold.From the entry temperature
  • The wind knocked the tree over last night. Bam! It nearly scared me to death.From the entry bam
  • We shipped nearly twice as many units this month as last month.From the entry unit
  • We were pooped within hailing of the quay and were nearly sunk.From the entry poop
  • They did nearly a million dollars of business over the long weekend.From the entry business
  • The shot flew twenty metres, and nearly landed on the judge's foot.From the entry shot
  • The Moon's orbit around the Earth takes nearly one month to complete.From the entry orbit
  • In nearly all internal combustion engines, the valves are of the poppet type.From the entry valve
  • A land monopoly renders its holder(s) nearly almighty in an agricultural society.From the entry monopoly
  • The man was nearly drowned after a strong undercurrent swept him out to sea.From the entry strong
  • The dial on the dashboard showed the car was nearly out of gas.From the entry dial
  • He couldn't get the infant off until nearly two in the morning.From the entry get off
  • The small boat broached and nearly sank, because of the large waves.From the entry broach
  • When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.From the entry drown
  • The train was gapped just outside the station, and passengers were stranded for nearly two hours.From the entry gap
  • The discovery of a previously unknown species had taken place nearly two years previously.From the entry previously
  • There's not nearly enough mortar for thirty-two square metres of wall.From the entry square metre
  • The ship endured an interminable layup in the harbor lasting nearly a month.From the entry layup
  • I went to the hairdresser for a trim but came back nearly bald.From the entry trim
  • We very nearly did in an entire keg of beer that weekend.From the entry do in
  • This snake looks nearly the same as its poisonous cousin but is harmless.From the entry harmless
  • He performed the piece remarkably, offering novel interpretations to its nearly cliched passages.From the entry remarkably
  • The time of Henry VII nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed modern history.From the entry commencement
  • The lengthiness of his talk bored most of his audience nearly to sleep.From the entry lengthiness
  • She was so hyphy outside the club Saturday night, she nearly punched a cop!From the entry hyphy
  • The building's custodian could fix nearly anything. The place always looked great!From the entry custodian
  • The teasing of her curls took nearly an hour with the fine-tooth comb.From the entry teasing
  • The overexploitation of forests left the island nearly denuded of trees.From the entry overexploitation
  • His practical joke misfired and he nearly burnt my left hand.From the entry misfire
  • You'll need to put that drink back quickly; it's very nearly closing time.From the entry put back
  • The memo discussed a new interdepartmental project that would require resources from nearly every group.From the entry interdepartmental
  • Nearly a year had passed by since I first laid eyes on him.From the entry pass by
  • Her persistent nagging and constant bickering with me nearly drove me up the wall.From the entry drive someone up the wall
  • In India, the percentage of marginal farmers among all farmers is nearly 70%.From the entry marginal farmer
  • Committing half his reserves nearly three hours after the attack was too little, too late.From the entry too little, too late

Meaning of nearly

  1. adverb In close approximation; almost, virtually.
  2. adverb With great scrutiny; carefully.
  3. adverb With close relation; intimately.

Full definition of nearly

Questions about nearly in a sentence

How do you use nearly in a sentence?
Nearly is used as an adverb. For example: “He left a nearly full beer on the bar.”
What is a short sentence with nearly?
“I nearly didn't go to work yesterday.”
What does nearly mean?
Nearly means in close approximation; almost, virtually.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nearly (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use nearly in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/nearly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.