almost

alternative Jamaica aulmos

1. not comparableVery close to, but not quite.

   We almost missed the train.

   5 more examples

   Almost all people went there.

   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

   Synonyms: environ, nearly, nigh, well-nigh, near, close to, next to, practically

2. not comparablemathematicsUp to, except for a negligible set (where negligible is not universally but contextually defined).

   almost no

   1 more example

   almost all

   1. not comparablemathematicsUp to a null set; except for a set of measure 0.

      almost sure

      3 more examples

      almost everywhere

      almost nowhere

      almost certain

plural almosts · alternative Jamaica aulmos

1. informalSomething 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.