What's the difference between nearly and nigh?

Nearly


Definition:

  • (adv.) In a near manner; not remotely; closely; intimately; almost.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The only other evidence of Kopachi's existence is the primary school near the memorial.
  • (2) Induction of labor, based upon only (1) a finding of meconium in the amniocentesis group or (2) a positive test in the OCT group, was nearly three times more frequent in the amniocentesis group.
  • (3) Two small populations of GLY + neurons were observed outside of the named nuclei of the SOC; one was located dorsal to the LSO, near its dorsal hilus, and the other was identified near the medial pole of the LSO.
  • (4) However, when conjugated to an antigen-bearing cell, a "non-antigen bearing" cell was labeled near the cell interaction area.
  • (5) While it is true that Clinton’s favorability rating is languishing among all voters, her favorability among Democrats is as robust as Biden’s, at nearly 75% .
  • (6) Accidentally discovered nearly 40 years ago as the first true antidepressants, the MAOIs soon fell into disfavor due to concerns about toxicity and seemingly lesser efficacy compared with the newer tricyclic compounds.
  • (7) The decline in the frequency of serious complications was primarily due to a decrease in the proportion of patients with open fractures treated with plate osteosynthesis from nearly 50% to 19%.
  • (8) A more substantial decrease was found in Aberdeen and the larger towns near to Aberdeen than in the smaller towns further from the city.
  • (9) Comparative data for the fragments from RNAs 1, 2, and 3 show that they have nearly the same sequence as the RNA 4 fragment.
  • (10) A full-scale war is unlikely but there is clear concern in Seoul about the more realistic threat of a small-scale attack on the South Korean military or a group of islands near the countries' disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea.
  • (11) Fractures which occur near the base of the dens have a low propensity to unite spontaneously.
  • (12) The M 13 specific DNA present in minicells isolated several hours after infection consists of single stranded viral DNA and double stranded replicative forms in nearly equal amounts.
  • (13) Simple cells that are nearly equally dominated by each eye always exhibit strong phase-specific interaction.
  • (14) According to the OFT, banks receive up to £3.5bn a year in unauthorised overdraft fees - nearly £10m a day.
  • (15) Liver bloodflow remained unchanged in AS dogs, but hepatic alanine uptake nearly tripled (p less than 0.01) and hepatic glucose production increased by 60% (p less than 0.05).
  • (16) In late May, more than 50 residents of Ust-Usa protested the effects of oil drilling and plans for a new oil well near the village.
  • (17) For consistent identification of the normal pancreas, preliminary longitudinal scanning at, or near, the mid-line and subsequent oblique scanning in the long axis are necessary prerequisites in delineating the anatomic outline of the pancreas.
  • (18) Despite the nearly anaerobic state of the ascites tumor fluid in vivo, cancer cells suspended in this fluid oxidized FFA at least as fast as they do in vitro under aerobic conditions.
  • (19) Pharmaceutical services were provided from a large tent near the hospital, which consisted of an emergency treatment facility, two operating rooms, and a small medical-surgical ward.
  • (20) The experimental conditions were nearly in vivo conditions.

Nigh


Definition:

  • (superl.) Not distant or remote in place or time; near.
  • (superl.) Not remote in degree, kindred, circumstances, etc.; closely allied; intimate.
  • (a.) In a situation near in place or time, or in the course of events; near.
  • (a.) Almost; nearly; as, he was nigh dead.
  • (v. t. & i.) To draw nigh (to); to approach; to come near.
  • (prep.) Near to; not remote or distant from.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Here was the purveyor of nigh on a third of the nation’s food openly promising a cut that will be barely noticed over time by consumers but will have a positive health impact.
  • (2) He was like the man with staring eyes who stumbled up and down Oxford Street with a placard declaring the end of the world to be nigh.
  • (3) But the deeply idiosyncratic Octopuss font on the station sign is a reminder that ‘77 was also the year of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love and Saturday Night Fever: the end of the world may have been nigh, but one corner of Berlin was boogying the night away to uphold western civilisation.
  • (4) Managing six toddlers is more than a challenge – it's a nigh-on physical impossibility, as my colleague Polly Toynbee pointed out last week.
  • (5) She was one of the most mature users of Twitter and her Twitter feed was so Tayloresque as to be nigh-on parodic, mixing passionate defences of Jackson with shout-outs to reality TV android Kim Kardashian and the occasional – and necessary – denials that she had re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-remarried ("Jason is my dearest friend!"
  • (6) In the era of omnipresent smartphones and tablets, these sacharrine treats are nigh-on inescapable, and as breakthrough hits are guaranteed millions of dollars in revenue (Candy Crush Saga alone generated $1.5bn last year), it's no wonder developers are employing increasingly clever psychological tricks to give their creations a crucial edge.
  • (7) Sue MacGregor presented the Today programme for nigh on 20 years; Peter Allen and Rhod Sharp have been working at 5 live since day one – 28 March 1994.
  • (8) Merkel responded that this was nigh-on impossible since it would require changes to the German constitution and around 10 separate legal changes, the sources said.
  • (9) It is not uncommon for illiberal – in this case, deeply authoritarian – regimes to use a security threat (whether real, imagined, or self-created) as a pretext for singling out alleged ‘traitors’ and cracking down on civil society and individual critics.” Lawyer Khalid Bagirov, who is acting on behalf of all four activists, said the arrests are politically motivated, and added that their acquittal is nigh on “impossible”.
  • (10) And, once the software is made, it's nigh-on impossible to shut down.
  • (11) Is the end nigh for the Department for Communities and Local Government?
  • (12) But just as Oliver Stone has managed to make a boring sequel to Wall Street, despite the real Wall Street's enthralling and nigh-on-cinematic recent wickedness (the inner Freudian torment of boring Shia LaBoeuf's boring character is apparently more interesting to Stone – once the great purveyor of conspiracy theories – than the near-collapse of capitalism), so the makers of the upcoming films about Facebook have missed an obvious trick with their movies.
  • (13) Now, he thinks, Ireland is playing catchup, and the time is nigh to start imagining a post-religion society.
  • (14) These patients all complained difficulty falling asleep; all said they usually slept less than 5 hr a nigh and woke up too early in the morning.
  • (15) It’s embarrassing that Clinton, whose political competence is nigh unparalleled, holds only an uncertain majority over his farcical campaign.
  • (16) If finding an apartment was difficult – a single woman who could afford to pay her own rent was clearly a hooker in the eyes of most landlords – winning serious work proved to be well nigh impossible.
  • (17) The need to change one's eating habits in order to treat a certain disease or a metabolic disorder may seem to impose a well nigh impossible task.
  • (18) Such timings are critical to creditors, and unprecedented January sale discounts were a clear sign that the end was nigh.
  • (19) Bishop said last week’s attack in London reinforced how, although authorities could track terrorist gangs and keep people under surveillance, it was “nigh on impossible” to keep track of individuals who self-radicalised and acted alone.
  • (20) The end is nigh is the consensus, but not that nigh.