well-nigh

well-nigh 是副词，表示“几乎、差不多”，常用于较正式或文学性的语境。

💡 记忆钩子

把“离目标很近”推进到“几乎已经达到”：well-nigh 不只是靠近，而是事情差一点就完成或达到某种状态，因此引申为“几乎、差不多”。

📝 学习建议

先把它整体记作“几乎”，不要按字面把它理解成普通的“很好地靠近”。
它比日常会话中的常用说法更书面、更文学；阅读中见到时可直接替换理解为“几乎”。

📖 中文释义

adv

common 几乎；差不多

📖 表示某事已经到了非常接近实现或发生的程度，但还没有完全实现；也可表示某种状态几乎达到极限。它承接“非常接近”的核心意象，所以可理解为“差一点就……”或“几乎已经……”。

💡 常用结构是 well-nigh + 形容词、过去分词或动词短语，例如 well-nigh impossible 表示“几乎不可能”。这个词多见于正式文章、文学作品或较庄重的叙述；日常会话中使用会显得不太自然。它表示“几乎”，不表示事情已经百分之百完成。

not-comparable

After three days without sleep, she was well-nigh exhausted.

连续三天没有睡觉后，她几乎精疲力竭。

📘 英文释义 (WordNet) 共 1 组

(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

同义词集: about almost most nearly near nigh virtually well-nigh

the job is (just) about done

the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded

we're almost finished

the car all but ran her down

he nearly fainted

talked for nigh onto 2 hours

the recording is well-nigh perfect

virtually all the parties signed the contract

I was near exhausted by the run

most everyone agrees

🌳 词源

源自中古英语，后来固定合并为 well-nigh；字面核心是“非常接近”。

From Middle English wel-neigh (“physically close to; near in time to; almost, nearly; closely”) [and other forms], from Old English wel nēah, wel nēh, from wel (“well”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose; to want”)) + nēah, nēh (“close, near”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to attain, reach”)). Synchronically a univerbation of well (“completely, fully; to a significant degree”) + nigh (“close by, near”).

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