Meanings
- archaicdialectalnot comparable(In) no way, (in) no manner; not at all.
The division into paragraphs aims in nowise [translating durchaus nicht] at logical consistency :[…]
1904, James A. Crichton, transl., Compendious Syriac Grammar, London: Williams & Norgate, Preface to the First Edition, page XI; translation of Theodor Nöldeke, Kurzgefasste Syrische Grammatik, second edition, Leipzig, 18984 more examples
To raise the Sham-Noblest, and solemnly consecrate him by whatever method, new-devised, or slavishly adhered to from old wont, this, little as we may regard it, is, in all times and countries, a practical blasphemy, and Nature will in nowise forget it. Alas, there lies the origin, the fatal necessity, of modern Democracy everywhere.
1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The present time”, in Latter-Day PamphletsBut that did in nowise mend the matter, or at all soften the hard heart of the learned gentleman with the copy of Blackstone.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Heads or tails”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 445His article was received with keen interest by Fredrik Vult von Steijern, the newspaper's cultural editor, who in turn paid the writer an honorarium of twenty crowns — nowise a modest sum at that time — despite the fact that the article never appeared in Dagens Nyheter.
1996 summer, Raymond Jarvi, “Hjalmar Söderberg on August Strindberg”, in Scandinavian Studies, volume 68, number 3, page 343I am going to create a trigger to the feelings of nostalgia, that this time at sea will nowise be lost.
2006 fall, Nate Haken, “Dolphins Dancing Somewhere off the Coast of Cuba”, in The Massachusetts Review, volume 47, number 3, page 410
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
adverbin no manner
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishnowyse
- Englishnowise
From Middle English nowyse, no-wyse, no wyse, equivalent to no (“none, not any”) + wise (“way, manner”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian по никакъв начин
- по никакъв начин (po nikakăv način)in no manner
Dutch in geen geval, absoluut niet
- in geen gevalin no manner
- absoluut nietin no manner
Finnish ei millään tavalla, ei mitenkään
- ei millään tavallain no manner
- ei mitenkäänin no manner
French d'aucune façon
- d'aucune façonin no manner
German auf gar keinen Fall
- auf gar keinen Fallin no manner
Polish bynajmniej, żadną miarą
- bynajmniejin no manner
- żadną miarąin no manner
- w żaden sposóbin no manner
Portuguese de forma alguma
- de forma algumain no manner
Romanian nicidecum
- nicidecumin no manner
Russian ни при каки́х обстоя́тельствах, никак
- ни при каки́х обстоя́тельствах (ni pri kakíx obstojátelʹstvax)in no manner
- никак (nikak)in no manner
Spanish de ninguna manera, de ningún modo
- de ninguna manerain no manner
- de ningún modoin no manner
- en absolutoin no manner
Turkish hiçbir biçimde
- hiçbir biçimdein no manner
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with nowise
All rhymes →Cite this entry
nowise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowise
“nowise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowise. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nowise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nowise.
Source: nowise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.