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

The end is nigh for hereditary peers, whose inherited right to sit in the House of Lords is set to be stripped from them after the passage of a new law this week.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

Pancaking is when a female eagle lies down flat in the bowl of the nest to test and shape it — and can signal eggs are nigh.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 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

But even if they wanted to share the particulars of the days toil, finding someone outside of Langley who understood what they were talking about would have been well nigh impossible.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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

I draw her to me, nigh and nigher.

From Sea Poems by Rice, Cale Young

At last one overstretched chord of her agony slacked; she thought Something above relented; she felt as if Something far round drew nigher; she heard as if Silence spoke.

From Shirley by Brontë, Charlotte

They presently ran aground upon a sandbar and there stuck fast for the time, though in such shoal water that we could not come nigher to them than we then were.

From The Rose of Paradise Being a detailed account of certain adventures that happened to captain John Mackra, in connection with the famous pirate, Edward England, in the year 1720, off the Island of Juanna in the Mozambique Channel; writ by himself, and now for the first time published by Pyle, Howard

I remember the voyage for Cap'n Mary's sake, but most I remember it because 'twas then that I come the nighest in my life to committin' matrimony.

From Friend Island by Stevens, Francis

It comes nighest to the senses when the atoms act and react upon each other, in the flow of mighty rivers, in the leap of cataracts, in the turmoil of the sea.

From Creed And Deed A Series of Discourses by Adler, Felix

But your land lies nighest to my farm, and it's worth more to me than anybody else.

From Cobwebs and Cables by Stretton, Hesba

Much the nighest, sir; but we don’t want to be soaked.

From Sappers and Miners The Flood beneath the Sea by Hurst, Hal

Petronella, I will tomorrow to the village nighest at hand, whilst thou dost rest up in yon tree out of the way of all harm, where I have prepared a place of comfort.

From The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot by Everett-Green, Evelyn