wellnigh

English

Adverb

wellnigh (not comparable)

1. Alternative spelling of well-nigh.
   • 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXIV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC:

     […] Huck’s confidence in the human race was wellnigh obliterated.

   • 1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, page 161:

     Athens especially never forgave the defection which had wellnigh involved her in hopeless ruin.

   • 1910, Erwin Rosen [pseudonym; Erwin Carlé], “A Hundred Thousand Heroes—A Hundred Thousand Victims”, in In the Foreign Legion, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, page 137:

     Five years ago the officers determined to build a new mess. There was only one objection to the fulfilment of this wish: the regimental coffers were wellnigh empty.