almost

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adv

Very close to, but not quite.
Up to, except for a negligible set (where negligible is not universally but contextually defined).
Up to a null set; except for a set of measure 0.

noun

Something or someone that doesn't quite make it.

Pronunciation

/ˈɔːl.məʊst/ /ɔːlˈməʊst/ /ˈɔː(l)məs/ /ˈɔl.moʊst/ /ˈɑl.moʊst/ /ˈoʊ.moʊst/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-almost.wav en-us-inlandnorth-almost.ogg en-us-almost.ogg [ˈɒɫmoʊst] /ˈoːlməʉst/ [ˈoːɫməʉst] [ˈoːwməʉst] /əʉməʉst/

Word forms

almost aulmos almosts

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós Proto-Germanic *allaz Proto-Germanic *ala- Proto-West Germanic *ala- Old English æl- Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *maiz Proto-Germanic *maistaz Proto-Germanic *maist Proto-West Germanic *maist Old English mǣst Old English eallmǣst Middle English almost English almost From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.

Synonyms

all but almost as good as as near as makes no difference fornigh just about more or less near as damn it nigh on nighwhat not quite pretty much tantamount to environ nearly nigh well-nigh near close to next to practically virtually not yet not

Antonyms

mostly somewhat slightly very

Related words

approximately

Derived words

almost all almost doesn't count almost everywhere almost fall off one's chair almost fall of one's chair almostness almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades almost prime almost split sequence almost standards mode almost surely

Translations

Armenian: գրեթե Bulgarian: почти́ Finnish: melkein Finnish: lähes Finnish: miltei Finnish: liki German: fast Polish: prawie Polish: niemal

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