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

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

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

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

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

There were three bedrooms upstairs, Erma said, but no one had been to the second floor in nigh on ten years, because the floorboards were rotted through.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

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

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 Brother Jabez

The gossoon that came from Beerhaven, said it would be nine o'clock at any rate; but sure it's nigher to ten now.

From The O'Donoghue Tale Of Ireland Fifty Years Ago by Charles James Lever

All that, sir, all that; nigher thirty, I should say.

From Through Russian Snows A Story of Napoleon's Retreat from Moscow by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

When it was fallen into decay, many folk of the lands and islands that were nighest thereunto marvel them what may be in this manor.

From The High History of the Holy Graal by Sebastian Evans

Thorstein sent forthwith a messenger to Wick to Flosi, and so to the nighest farm-steads.

From The Story of Grettir the Strong by William Morris

So those two knights proceeded along that golden strand, all in the shining sunlight, until, by and by, they came to a certain part of the lake that was nighest to the castle.

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

There's another at the end nighest Guernsey, but it's not easy.

From A Maid of the Silver Sea by John Oxenham

His crescent light, the first and nighest God, 80 Shall ne'er grow dim.

From Vondel's Lucifer by Joost van den Vondel

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