nearly

\ˈnɪəlɪ\

/\ˈnɪəlɪ\/ adv

The verdict

“nearly” is uncommon French (frequency #87,880 among 1,563 “N” headwords), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,880
frequency rank, French
1,563
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Près de.

Corpus desk

Index FR-nearly · nearly · French

nearly · rank #87,880 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,880
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,563
  • PHOTO-FINISH Naylor

Nearest frequency peer: Naylor (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « nearly »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « nearly » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nearly
PropertyValue
Headwordnearly
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\ˈnɪəlɪ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#87,880
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « nearly » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).nearlytombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Naylor » (#87,879), « negri » (#87,881), « natali » (#87,878). Parmi 1,563 lemmes en « N », « nearly » est au #87,880. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nearly is uncommon French at frequency #87,880 among 1,563 “N” headwords, classed as anadverb, transcribed \ˈnɪəlɪ\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for nearly in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is nearly, spelled N-E-A-R-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Près de.
  2. 2
    Presque.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how nearly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He’s nearly five years old. Soon, he’ll be going to school.
  2. She’s nearly as tall as you are.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nearly"?
"nearly" is spelled N-E-A-R-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈnɪəlɪ\.
What does "nearly" mean?
As an adverb, "nearly" means: Près de.
How do you pronounce "nearly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nearly" is \ˈnɪəlɪ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nearly" come from?
"nearly" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nearly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list