Adjacent Words

Never definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NEVER, adv.
1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time. It refers to the past or the future. This man was never at Calcutta; he will never be there.
2. It has a particular use in the following sentences.
Ask me never so much dower and gift. Genesis 34.
Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. Psalms 58.
A fear of battery-though never so well grounded, is no duress.
This is a genuine English use of never, found in our Saxon authors, and it ought to be retained. Ask me so much dower as never was done; that is, dower to any extent. The practice of using ever in such phrases, is corrupt. It not only destroys the force but the propriety of the phrase.
3. In no degree; not.
Whoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his eyes in another mans head and yet see never the worse.
4. It is used for not. He answered him never a word; that is, not ever. This use is not common.
5. It is much used in composition; as in never-ending, never-failing, never-dying, never-ceasing, never-fading; but in all such compounds, never retains its true meaning.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adv
1: not ever; at no time in the past or future; "I have never been to China"; "I shall never forget this day"; "had never seen a circus"; "never on Sunday"; "I will never marry you!" [syn: never, ne'er] [ant: always, e'er, ever]
2: not at all; certainly not; not in any circumstances; "never fear"; "bringing up children is never easy"; "that will never do"; "what is morally wrong can never be politically right"

Merriam Webster's

adverb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English n?fre, from ne not + ?fre ever — more at no Date: before 12th century 1. not ever ; at no time <I never met her> 2. not in any degree ; not under any condition <never the wiser for his experience>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adv. 1 a at no time; on no occasion; not ever (have never been to Paris; never saw them again). b colloq. as an emphatic negative (I never heard you come in). 2 not at all (never fear). 3 colloq. (expressing surprise) surely not (you never left the key in the lock!). Phrases and idioms: never-never (often prec. by the) Brit. colloq. hire purchase. never-never land an imaginary utopian place. never a one none. never say die see DIE(1). well I never! expressing great surprise. Etymology: OE næfre f. ne not + æfre EVER

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Never Nev"er, adv. [AS. n?fre; ne not, no + ?fre ever.] 1. Not ever; not at any time; at no time, whether past, present, or future. --Shak. Death still draws nearer, never seeming near. --Pope. 2. In no degree; not in the least; not. Whosoever has a friend to guide him, may carry his eyes in another man's head, and yet see never the worse. --South. And he answered him to never a word. --Matt. xxvii. 14. Note: Never is much used in composition with present participles to form adjectives, as in never-ceasing, never-dying, never-ending, never-fading, never-failing, etc., retaining its usual signification. Never a deal, not a bit. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Never so, as never before; more than at any other time, or in any other circumstances; especially; particularly; -- now often expressed or replaced by ever so. Ask me never so much dower and gift. --Gen. xxxiv. 12. A fear of battery, . . . though never so well grounded, is no duress. --Blackstone.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Never means at no time in the past or at no time in the future. I have never lost the weight I put on in my teens... Never had he been so free of worry... That was a mistake. We'll never do it again... Never say that. Never, do you hear?... He was never really healthy... This is never to happen again. ADV: ADV before v, ADV group/to-inf 2. Never means 'not in any circumstances at all'. I would never do anything to hurt him... Even if you are desperate to get married, never let it show... Divorce is never easy for children... The golden rule is never to clean a valuable coin. ADV: ADV before v, ADV group/to-inf 3. Never ever is an emphatic way of saying 'never'. I never, ever sit around thinking, 'What shall I do next?'... He's vowed never ever to talk about anything personal in public, ever again. PHRASE: PHR before v, be PHR group [emphasis] 4. Never is used to refer to the past and means 'not'. He never achieved anything... He waited until all the luggage was cleared, but Paula's never appeared... I never knew the lad... I'd never have dreamt of doing such a thing. ADV 5. You say 'never!' to indicate how surprised or shocked you are by something that someone has just said. (SPOKEN) EXCLAM [feelings] 6. You say 'Well, I never' to indicate that you are very surprised about something that you have just seen or found out. (OLD-FASHIONED, SPOKEN) 'What were you up to there?'—'I was head of the information department.'—'Well I never!' EXCLAM [feelings] 7. If you say that something will never do or would never do, you are saying, often humorously, that you think it is not appropriate or not suitable in some way. It would never do to have Henry there in her apartment... I don't think it is an example of bad writing myself, otherwise I'd be agreeing with Leavis, and that would never do. PHRASE: oft it PHR to-inf 8. never mind: see mind

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. 1. At no time, not at any time, not ever. 2. In no degree, not at all, none. 3. Not.

Moby Thesaurus

God forbid, at no hand, at no time, au contraire, by no means, far from it, in no case, in no respect, in no way, in no wise, never on earth, nevermore, no matter what, nohow, not, not a bit, not a jot, not a speck, not a whit, not an iota, not at all, not ever, not much, not nearly, noway, noways, nowhere near, nowise, on no account, on no condition, on no occasion, quite the contrary, to the contrary, under no circumstances