nowhere

[ noh-hwair, -wair ]

adverb

1. in or at no place; not anywhere:

   The missing pen was nowhere to be found.

2. to no place:

   We went nowhere last weekend.

noun

1. the state of nonexistence or seeming nonexistence:

   A gang of thieves appeared from nowhere.

2. anonymity or obscurity:

   She came from nowhere to win the championship.

3. an unknown, remote, or nonexistent place or region.

adjective

, Informal.

1. being or leading nowhere; pointless; futile:

   to be stuck in a nowhere job.

2. worthless or useless:

   That's a nowhere idea if I ever heard one.

nowhere

/ ˈnəʊˌwɛə /

adverb

1. in, at, or to no place; not anywhere
2. get nowhere or get nowhere fast informal.
   to fail completely to make any progress
3. nowhere near
   far from; not nearly

noun

1. a nonexistent or insignificant place
2. middle of nowhere
   a completely isolated, featureless, or insignificant place

Spelling Note

See anyplace.

Word History and Origins

Origin of nowhere¹

before 1000; Middle English (adv.); Old English nāhwǣr, nōhwǣr. See no ¹, where

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. miles from nowhere, in a remote, isolated, or inaccessible area.
2. nowhere near, not nearly:

   There's nowhere near enough food to go around.

More idioms and phrases containing nowhere

In addition to the idiom beginning with nowhere , also see get nowhere ; in the middle (of nowhere) ; out of nowhere .

Example Sentences

Animal Services, said earlier this year that the crowding had reached crisis levels with “nowhere to house incoming dogs.”

From Los Angeles Times

But the story of the Irish general election on Nov. 29 is nowhere near that simple, and definitely should not be understood as evidence of widespread contentment with the status quo.

From Salon

And by the fourth time, a year after the first, she had been fleeing Israeli bombs for so long that nowhere in Lebanon felt safe.

From BBC

“Every attempt to communicate concerns here goes nowhere,” she wrote to the university’s human resources department, according to an email viewed by The Times.

From Los Angeles Times

Out of nowhere he was tackled to the ground by England team-mate Harry Brook.

From BBC

Related Words

• darkness
• extinction
• limbo