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

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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

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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

But when the bulls start reporting that massive stock gambling by the retail public, using levered ETFs, are a reason to be bullish, you have to start wondering if the end is nigh.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026

You know the end of summer is nigh when Vail Resorts announces opening dates for its ski resorts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Chris Sutton: There's no doubt the pressure will be on Maresca from the off, and replacing Rodri is nigh on impossible.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

After all, it’s a formula that has worked for nigh on six decades.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

“La, no Miss, but he’s had a scene with Mr. Laurie, who is in one of his tantrums about something, which vexes the old gentleman, so I dursn’t go nigh him.”

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

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 see thee nigh and nigher; And my soul leaps up like sudden fire, My life's in the air To meet thee there, To meet thee coming to me, love!

From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various

There's no doctor nigher than Hazelmere, and I ain't goin' there.

From The Broom-Squire by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

"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 James Baldwin

It is probable she was blown off from Madagascar by the violent northerly winds; that being the nighest land to us, though distance near 150 leagues.

From A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland by William Dampier

When we reckoned this up Drusilla come the nighest to disapprovin' of the Deacon's management that I ever knew her to.

From Samantha at the World's Fair by Baron C. de Grimm

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

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

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 Robert Record

She taketh Perceval by the hand and leadeth him to the windows of the hall that were nighest the sea.

From The High History of the Holy Graal by Sebastian Evans

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