The meaning of almost is very nearly but not exactly or entirely Quite, entirely, completely, absolutely, fully, thoroughly, altogether, well How to use almost in a sentence.
We use almost and nearly to refer to the progress of things, especially if we are measuring and counting things Nearly, practically, virtually, fairly, about, most, somewhere, pretty much In these examples, almost and nearly can both be used
We were bitten by mosquitoes almost every night. See examples of almost used in a sentence. You use almost to indicate that something is not completely the case but is nearly the case The couple had been dating for almost three years
The effect is almost impossible to describe He contracted spanish flu, which almost killed him. Almost (plural almosts) (informal) something or someone that doesn't quite make it In all the submissions, they found four papers that were clearly worth publishing and another dozen almosts.
They can be used in front of adjectives or noun phrases, or with verbs I spent almost a month in china He worked there for nearly five years There are seven meanings listed in oed's entry for the word almost, two of which are labelled obsolete
See ‘meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. Almost implies very little short of Most is colloquial for almost Nearly implies a slightly greater distance or degree than almost
Nearly, while very similar in meaning, can convey a slight nuance of even closer proximity to the endpoint or goal.
