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Almost vs Not - What's the difference?

almost | not |

As nouns the difference between almost and not

is that almost is (informal) something or someone that doesn't quite make it while not is grain (collective name for a variety of crops including rice, wheat and corn) .

As an adverb almost

is very close to, but not quite.

almost

English

Alternative forms

* (Jamaican English)

Adverb

(-)
  • Very close to, but not quite.
  • Almost all people went there. - Not all but very close to it.
    We almost missed the train. - Not missed but very close to it.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
  • * , chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=9 citation , passage=Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-17, author=George Monbiot, authorlink=George Monbiot
  • , title=Money just makes the rich suffer , volume=188, issue=23, page=19, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) citation , passage=In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […]  The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.}}

    Synonyms

    * nearly, nigh, well-nigh, near, close to, next to, practically, virtually

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (informal) Something or someone that doesn't quite make it.
  • In all the submissions, they found four papers that were clearly worth publishing and another dozen almosts .

    Statistics

    *

    not

    English

    (wikipedia not)

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
  • * 1973 , .
  • Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.
    Did you take out the trash? No, I did not .
    Not knowing any better, I went ahead.
  • To no degree
  • That is not red; it's orange.

    Usage notes

    In modern usage, the form do not ...'' (or ''don’t ...'') is preferred to ''... not'' for all but a short list of verbs (is/am/are/was/were, have/has/had, can/could, shall/should, will/would, may/might, need): * They do not''' sow.'' (modern) vs. ''They sow '''not . (KJB) American usage tends to prefer don’t have'' or ''haven’t got'' to ''have not'' or ''haven’t'', except when ''have'' is used as an auxiliary (or in the idiom ''have-not ): * I don’t have a clue'' or ''I haven’t got a clue. (US) * I haven’t a clue'' or ''I haven't got a clue. (outside US) * I haven’t been to Spain. (universal) The verb need is only directly negated when used as an auxiliary, and even this usage is rare in the US. * You don’t need to trouble yourself. (US) * You needn’t trouble yourself. (outside US) * I don’t need any eggs today. (universal) The verb dare can sometimes be directly negated. * I daren't do that.

    Conjunction

    (English Conjunctions)
  • And .
  • I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.
    He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple.

    Usage notes

    * The construction “A, not B” is synonymous with the constructions “A, and not B”; “not B, but A”; and “not B, but rather A”.

    Interjection

    not!
  • Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.
  • I really like hanging out with my little brother watching ''Barney''... not !
    Sure, you're perfect the way you are... not !

    Synonyms

    * I don't think

    See also

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Unary logical function NOT, true if input is false, or a gate implementing that negation function.
  • You need a not there to conform with the negative logic of the memory chip.

    See also

    * AND * OR * NAND * XOR

    See also

    * if * then * else * and * or * true * false

    Statistics

    *