nearly

adverb

/ˈnɪə.li/

/ˈnɪr-/

Definition

A2 almost, or not completely: It's been nearly three months since my last haircut. I've nearly finished that book you lent me. She's nearly as tall as her father now. They'd eaten nearly everything. It was so funny - we nearly died laughing.AlmostMerely and barely not nearly as/so C1 a lot less: She's not nearly as beautiful as you said she was. My cold isn't nearly so bad as it was.Yes, no and not not nearly enough › much less than you want or need: There's not nearly enough food for all these people!Scarce, inadequate and not enoughLacking things

(Definition of nearly adverb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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