almost meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

almost

adv

UK /ˈɔːl.məʊst/ · US /ˈɔl.moʊst/

Etymology From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.

Very close to, but not quite.

4 more examples

Nobody, or almost, noticed anything unusual.
Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter IX, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

Mathematics, Sciences Up to, except for a negligible set (where negligible is not universally but contextually defined).

Mathematics, Measure theory, Probability theory, Sciences Up to a null set; except for a set of measure 0.

2 more examples

Synonyms: nearly, nigh, well-nigh, near, close to, next to, practically, virtually, not yet, not, 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
Antonyms: mostly, somewhat, slightly, very
Derived terms: 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
Related terms: approximately
Hypernyms: partially, unsuccessfully

noun

Etymology From Middle English almost, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to al- (“all”) + most.

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.