Etymology From Middle English nowher, from Old English nōhwēr, nāhwǣr, from nā- + hwǣr. By surface analysis, no + where. Adjective usage is taken from phrases like nowhere on the map (signifying the location was too small or too insignificant to be listed), nowhere you want to be, etc.
1
In no place.
Nowhere did the rules say anything about popcorn.
The keys are nowhere in the house.
2
To no place.
We sat in traffic, going nowhere.
If you forget to do this, your interlock circuit won't be made and you'll be going nowhere.
nowhere
adj
Etymology From Middle English nowher, from Old English nōhwēr, nāhwǣr, from nā- + hwǣr. By surface analysis, no + where. Adjective usage is taken from phrases like nowhere on the map (signifying the location was too small or too insignificant to be listed), nowhere you want to be, etc.
1
Unimportant; unworthy of notice.
As a foreign stamp gazette it is nowhere. An article on Stamp Collecting, by J. E. Gray, “reprinted from one of his books,” and a catalogue of stamps constitute its sole attraction. We are surprised to find such sounding pretentions so poorly supported.1872, “Reviews of Postal Publications”, in The Stamp-Collector's Magazine, volume 10, page 110:
Elinore was such a bitch, such a nowhere person.2008, Cricket Sawyer, Lavender Lust, →ISBN, page 180:
1 more example
He always allowed them to motivate him to a level of intensity to do better, rather than remain in a nowhere life in a nowhere place like Harlem.2012, Nicholas Borelli, Let No Man Be My Albatross, →ISBN, page 247:
Etymology From Middle English nowher, from Old English nōhwēr, nāhwǣr, from nā- + hwǣr. By surface analysis, no + where. Adjective usage is taken from phrases like nowhere on the map (signifying the location was too small or too insignificant to be listed), nowhere you want to be, etc.
1
No particular place, noplace.
They went on a cruise to nowhere.
While they paced the platform of the station, they reviewed the career of misdemeanours—Nutley, Chiddiugstone, Midhurst, Penn, and many nowheres, and now Aylesbury.1912, Charles Inge, “Nemesis or Bad Luck?”, in The Windsor magazine, volume 36, page 95:
3 more examples
On a warm summer's evening On a train bound for nowhere I met up with the gambler1976, “The Gambler”, Don Schlitz (lyrics):
Oh, not the middle of nowhere like the rest of Indiana, but a nowhere so flat and ugly you want to lie down in a ditch and never get up again.1996 Oct, Indianapolis Monthly, volume 20, number 2, page 115:
But some Nowheres do still exist and are there to be found by any genuinely free spirit willing to hook a caravan behind his four-wheel-drive and dream, say, of finding that isolated campsite beside an as yet undiscovered waterhole2005, Dave Finkelstein with Jack London and Philip Caputo, Greater Nowheres: Wanderings Across the Outback, page xxiv: