nigh

American  

[nahy] / naɪ /

adverb

1. near in space, time, or relation.

   The time draws nigh.

2. nearly; almost; (often followed by on oronto ).

   nigh onto twenty years.

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adjective

nigher, nighest

1. near; approaching.

   Evening is nigh.

2. short or direct.

   to take the nighest route.

3. (of an animal or vehicle) being on the left side.

   to be astride the nigh horse.

4. Archaic. parsimonious; stingy.

preposition

1. near.

verb (used with or without object)

1. Archaic. to approach.

nigh British  

/ naɪ /

adjective

1. an archaic, poetic, or dialect word for near

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Other Word Forms

• unnigh
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of nigh

before 900; Middle English nigh ( e ), neye, Old English nēah, nēh, cognate with Dutch na, German nahe, Old Norse nā-, Gothic nehw, nehwa; cf. near, next

Explanation

Nigh is an old-fashioned word that can be used as an adjective or adverb to mean near or nearly. Something that is nigh impossible — like knitting a sweater in one night — will be very difficult to accomplish. As an adjective, nigh is an older form of the word "near," both of which are rooted in the Old English word neah. People like to use the word nigh when they talk about the apocalypse: "Repent! The end is nigh." It's most common to use nigh today when you're trying to sound poetic or referencing the archaic or biblical uses of the word.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nigh nigher nighest

Or, the end of this Supreme Court term is nigh, at least.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

Honey Cooper catches up on reading at home in the afternoon between elementary school and her college nigh class.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

Most investors fret the end is nigh, and they often panic out of positions, as witnessed during recent weakness.

From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026

"He's like a wounded wildebeest: fatally wounded but determined to show how strong he is knowing full well the end is nigh," said a third.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026

As the evening of the royal reception approached, the time drew nigh to pay our way.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Or the end of the Anthropocene might be nigher than you think.

From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2022

“That’s nigher where it is,” said Joe; “she ain’t living.”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

"Sure she was nigher to heaven's spheres, Listening the lordly music flowing from The illimitable years."

From Six Centuries of English Poetry Tennyson to Chaucer by Baldwin, James

The sea was smooth, the weather clear; When they approached nigher, 75 King Ida's castle they well knew, And the banks of Bambroughshire.

From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (of 8) by Various

The whispering grove a holy temple is To him, where God draws nigher to his soul; Each verdant sod a shrine, Whereby he kneels to heaven.

From A Tale of the Kloster A Romance of the German Mystics at the Cocalico by Jabez, Brother

If he could not accomplish the best, he contented himself with the nighest approach to it.

From Homes of American Statesmen With Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches by Various

Every one," says Coverdale, "doth his best to be nighest to the mark.

From Early Theories of Translation by Amos, Flora Ross

Then draw lines betwene euery two prickes that be nighest togither, and ther wil appear rightly drawẽ the figure, of fiftene sides, and angles equall.

From The Path-Way to Knowledg Containing the First Principles of Geometrie by Record, Robert

God is the highest, The greatest, the nighest, Gracious is ever, Is changeable never, Of all our treasures the noblest is He.

From Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs Translated by John Kelly by Gerhardt, Paul

Then, after a while, she sent for Sir Bors de Ganis, who was the nighest of kin to Sir Launcelot of all those then at court.

From The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions by Pyle, Howard