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nearest

adverb · adjective

Form of near , superlative of near.

Simple meaning

Within the shortest distance.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

nihruhst

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈnɪɹəst

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adverb

  1. superlative of `near' or `close'

    Within the shortest distance

    “That was the time he came nearest to death.”

adjective

  1. superlative of `near' or `nigh'

    Most near

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

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More ways to use nearest

  • “That was the time he came nearest to death.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

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nearest approachnearest neighborsnearest wholenearest relativenearest neighbours

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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: within the shortest distance

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.