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Nigh

Adverb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Near or almost. It can refer to place, time, degree, or approaching events.

Detailed Definition
Nigh is a compact poetic word for nearness, often used to bring an object, moment, or fate close to the speaker. Night may draw nigh, a loved one may stand nigh, or a journey may be nigh its end. Because it is shorter and more elevated than near, it suits metrical verse and archaic diction. The term can create anticipation or unease, since what comes nigh may be desired, feared, or impossible to avoid.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Winter is nigh” uses the archaic adverb to mean “near”; In William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73, “That time of year thou mayst in me behold / When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang,” the approaching season is nigh in sense; “Nigh to the moon, the tower’s pale window gleamed” places the image close to another; “The hour of parting drew nigh” gives a formal, old-fashioned tone to an approaching event
Additional Notes
Nigh is an archaic or poetic alternative to near. It can indicate physical closeness or approaching time—“death is nigh”—and its elevated diction may suit ballads, hymns, pastoral verse, or deliberately old-fashioned tones.
Other Meanings of “Nigh”
Also Known As
Near Nearly Close by
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