almost

American  

[awl-mohst, awl-mohst] / ˈɔl moʊst, ɔlˈmoʊst /

adverb

1. very nearly; all but.

   almost every house; almost the entire symphony; to pay almost nothing for a car; almost twice as many books.

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almost British  

/ ˈɔːlməʊst /

adverb

1. little short of being; very nearly

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Usage

See most.

Related Words

Almost, most, nearly, well-nigh all mean within a small degree of or short space of. Almost implies very little short of: almost exhausted; almost home. Most is colloquial for almost. Nearly implies a slightly greater distance or degree than almost : nearly well; nearly to the city. Well-nigh, a more literary word, implies a barely appreciable distance or extent: well-nigh forgotten; well-nigh home.

Etymology

Origin of almost

First recorded before 1000; Middle English almost, almast, almest, Old English eall(e) mǣst “nearly all”

Example Sentences

They can be traced almost entirely back to Banks’ individual refusal to help or protect the young women who thought she would share a few crumbs of her success with them.

From Salon

To understand the dynamic between the quartet, you have to go back almost nine years to when they first came together as a team.

From BBC

"If you see some videos of how they used to play, it was almost like they were dancing around the court, it wasn't aggressive," he explains.

From BBC

You can almost hear the sigh before they speak.

From BBC

French’s data go back to the start of July 1926, or almost exactly 100 years, which allows us to look at performance before the rise of modern index funds, let alone sector funds.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• about
• approximately
• around
• essentially
• most
• much
• practically
• relatively
• roughly
• virtually