nary
Americanadjective
adverb
Etymology
Origin of nary
First recorded in 1740–50; variant of ne'er a never a
Explanation
Use the adjective nary to mean "none," or "not a single one." If you hope for a snowy morning, when you wake up you'll be sad to see nary a snowflake. Nary is an old fashioned and informal way to say "not." You might describe your friend's sad, empty book shelves with nary a novel on them, or your bald great uncle, who has nary a hair on his head. The word has been around since the mid-1700s, from never a, which was then shortened to ne'er a, and finally nary.
Vocabulary lists containing nary
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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The Color Purple
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The Mysterious Benedict Society
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Madame Pernelle, too, worships at the shrine of Tartuffe, but has nary a good word, and many a bad one, for anyone else.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
The stadium, to Epstein’s relief, was filled to the brim with nary an empty seat to be found.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2025
But what do you call the grief that comes when the modern world leaves nary a trace of the place that raised you?
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2025
A silver Cuban link chain draped her neck, fuzzy slippers hugged her feet, her makeup precisely applied and nary a hair out of place — the embodiment of smooth.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
Others, like Dorothy Hoover and Doris Cohen, had highly refined understandings of theoretical math, differentiating their way through nested equations ten pages deep with nary an error in sign.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
