Meanings
- informalnonstandardnot comparableThis close; extremely close.
If her father knew she was thisclose to a male like that?
2015, J. R. Ward, Blood Kiss, page 354 more examples
JUDY GARLAND was thisclose to signing an exclusive TV contract with NBC, but the deal fell through.
1955, Bob Stohl, TV guide: Volume 3, page 27Sources indicate that Danzig is thisclose to signing a new label deal.
2001 December 17, CMJ New Music Report, volume 69, number 743, page 10Bridget is the only one at school who knows that I came thisclose to letting Marcus Flutie devirginize me last New Year's Eve.
2003, Megan McCafferty, Second Helpings: A Novel, page 80He knew he was thisclose to cuffing Bobbie Faye. Thisclose to keeping her from getting killed in the inevitable cross fire he sensed was coming; he felt it all the way to the cellular level of his bones.
2009, Toni McGee Causey, Charmed and Dangerous, page 268
Origin
A presentation of the phrase "this close" that intentionally omits the space between the words to demonstrate the degree of closeness.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
thisclose. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thisclose
“thisclose.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thisclose. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thisclose,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thisclose.
Source: thisclose on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.