Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use nigh in a sentence

24 example sentences · adjective, verb, adverb

Nigh means near, close by. Example: “The end is nigh!”

Examples of nigh by meaning

adjectiveNear, close by.

  • The end is nigh!
  • Daybreak is drawing nigh.
  • The end is nigh (or at least it was supposed to be), but the Pacers in northern England kept plugging away providing a service while awaiting the much-delayed arrival of their replacements.2020 May 20, John Crosse, “Soon to be gone... but never forgotten”, in Rail, page 63, photo caption

verbTo draw nigh (to); to approach; to come near.

  • When the charnel-eyed Pale Horse has nighed1924, Thomas Hardy, He Resolves to Say No More

adverbAlmost, nearly.

  • We talked for nigh on to two hours.
  • Arya Stark, fresh off a nigh Cersei-level ambush of the Frey household, comes upon a small campfire surrounded by fresh-faced red cloaks.2017 July 16, Brandon Nowalk, “Chickens and dragons come home to roost on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club

prepositionNear; close to.

  • The cottage stood nigh the burn, in a little garden, with lilyoaks and grosart bushes lining the pathway.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

More sentences with nigh

  • I had been working in this industry for nigh on twelve years when it happened.From the entry nigh on
  • I walked for nigh on to three hours.From the entry nigh on
  • They keep predicting that the Apocalypse is nigh, but I notice that they have books and supplies that they're trying to sell.From the entry apocalypse
  • I seen one man from the 16th nigh chop his foot off when he mis-swung his axe.2015, Johnny Boggs, South by Southwest: A Western Story. From the entry dangersome
  • You know all those LOL-tastic Mayan calendar, “the end is nigh” jokes we’ve politely tolerated for months?2012 December 18, Grace Dent, “Beijing cuts to the chase with doom mongers”, in The Independent, London: Independent News & Media…. From the entry LOLtastic
  • The thick density of the smoke made it nigh impossible to distinguish anyone.2011, Ken Bruen, Headstone, Mysterious Press, →ISBN, page 189. From the entry wisp
  • You're an old gager; you've lived nigh on fourscore years, I shouldn't wonder.2000, Joan Aiken, The Stolen Lake, page 278. From the entry gadger
  • It looked like a tomb and smelt pretty nigh as musty and dead-and-gone.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC. From the entry dismal
  • The forest nigh had gotten danksome and groolier.2013, Robin Jarvis, Dark Waters of Hagwood. From the entry danksome
  • "I was borned over there on yon side that there flat-topped mountain, nigh the mouth of Red Creek.1919, Harold Bell Wright, The Re-Creation of Brian Kent. From the entry borned
  • Yea, Pauline, it behooveth thee to examine thineself closely, e’en as the time for New Year resolutions draweth nigh.1915 December 9, “Local Items”, in Canadian Valley Record, volume XI, Canton, Okla., column 3. From the entry thineself
  • To ride upon such glories, Till my time comes nigh, And commune in the city of peaceful slumbers Among my brothers of wind-blown rye.2016, William Burkholder, The City of My Brothers. From the entry brother
  • She nigh begged to have her tongue slit to stop her incessant criticisms, just as Boris the Braggart did with his wife.”2010, Sandra Hill, Dark Viking. From the entry nagsome
  • "Poor lamb," she said suddenly, "yu're well nigh done with them polrumptious trains and things, and yu not long a wife, I'll dare be bound.1908, Ms. Percy Dearmer [i.e., Mabel Dearmer], chapter four, in The Sisters, New York, N.Y.: The McClure Company, page 82. From the entry polrumptious
  • Communications were often difficult, and liaison across the interbrigade boundary was well nigh impossible because there was no continuous "front" but, rather, a series of battalion positions and objectives.1983, Military Review, volume 63, page 70. From the entry interbrigade
  • Not a looming cloud, But may the King's majestic chariot be, That brings Him nigh, when we are overbowed, To dwell with you, O friend, to dwell with me!1915, Elizabeth Gibson, “With Clouds”, in London, page 23. From the entry overbow
  • At the clashing of the cymbals the King sprang at Goldry as the panther springeth, and with the rush bare him backward and well nigh forth of the wrastling ground.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 24. From the entry forth

Meaning of nigh

  1. adjective Near, close by.
  2. adjective Not remote in degree, kindred, circumstances, etc.; closely allied; intimate.
  3. verb To draw nigh (to); to approach; to come near.

Full definition of nigh

Questions about nigh in a sentence

How do you use nigh in a sentence?
Nigh is used as an adjective, verb and adverb. For example: “The end is nigh!”
What is a short sentence with nigh?
“Daybreak is drawing nigh.”
What does nigh mean?
Nigh means near, close by.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nigh (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 nigh in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/nigh. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.