Standard Lemma guide

nowhere

adj · adv · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈnoʊ.(h)wɛɹ/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈnəʊ.wɛə/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: N OW1 W EH2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: N OW1 HH W EH2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unimportant; unworthy of notice.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

In no place.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • Nowhere did the rules say anything about popcorn.
  • The keys are nowhere in the house.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

To no place.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • We sat in traffic, going nowhere.
  • If you forget to do this, your interlock circuit won't be made and you'll be going nowhere.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

No particular place, noplace.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • They went on a cruise to nowhere.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adverb

Meaning 5

not anywhere; in or at or to no place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • I am going nowhere

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

an insignificant place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he came out of nowhere

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: obscurity

History

Etymology

From Middle English nowher, from Old English nōhwēr, nāhwǣr, from nā- + hwǣr. By surface analysis, no + where. Adjective usage is taken from phrases like nowhere on the map (signifying the location was too small or too insignificant to be listed), nowhere you want to be, etc.

Across languages

Translations

129 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: askund — in no place
  • Albanian: kurrkund — in no place
  • Albanian: asgjëkund — in no place
  • Arabic: فِي لَا مَكَان (fī lā makān) — in no place
  • Asturian: nenyures — in no place
  • Azerbaijani: heç yerdə — in no place
  • Azerbaijani: heç yanda — in no place
  • Bashkir: бер ҡайҙа ла (ber qayźa la) — in no place
  • Basque: inon — in no place
  • Belarusian: нідзе́ (nidzjé) — in no place
  • Bengali: কোথাও না (kōthaō na) — in no place
  • Breton: nebleh — in no place
  • Bulgarian: никъде́ (nikǎdé) — in no place
  • Catalan: enlloc — in no place
  • Chinese Mandarin: 無處 /无处 (wúchù) — in no place
  • Czech: nikde — in no place
  • Danish: ingensteds — in no place
  • Danish: intetsteds — in no place
  • Dutch: nergens — in no place
  • Esperanto: nenie — in no place
  • Faroese: ongastaðni — in no place
  • Finnish: ei missään — in no place
  • French: nulle part — in no place
  • West-Frisian: nearne — in no place
  • Galician: ningures — in no place
  • German: nirgendwo — in no place
  • German: nirgends — in no place
  • Greek: πουθενά (pouthená) — in no place
  • Ancient Greek: μηδαμοῦ (mēdamoû) — in no place
  • Ancient Greek: οὐδαμοῦ (oudamoû) — in no place
  • Hungarian: sehol — in no place
  • Icelandic: hvergi — in no place
  • Icelandic: ekki neins staðar — in no place
  • Icelandic: ekki nokkursstaðar — in no place
  • Ido: nulaloke — in no place
  • Ingrian: kuskaa — in no place
  • Ingrian: kussaa — in no place
  • Irish: in áit ar bith — in no place
  • Italian: da nessuna parte — in no place
  • Italian: in nessun posto — in no place
  • Japanese: どこにも (dokonimo) — in no place
  • Kapampangan: nokarinman — in no place
  • Kapampangan: nokarinpaman — in no place
  • Korean: 아무데도 (amudedo) — in no place
  • Central Kurdish: ھیچ شوێن (hîç şwên) — in no place
  • Ladin: iniò — in no place
  • Latin: nullibi — in no place
  • Latin: nusquam — in no place
  • Latvian: nekur — in no place
  • Lithuanian: niekur — in no place
  • Luxembourgish: néierens — in no place
  • Macedonian: ни́каде (níkade) — in no place
  • Marathi: कुठेच नाही (kuṭhec nāhī) — in no place
  • Classical Nahuatl: ahcān — in no place
  • Old English: nāhwǣr — in no place
  • Pannonian Rusyn: нїґдзе (njigdze) — in no place
  • Persian: هیچجا (hič-jâ) — in no place
  • Persian: هیچکجا (hič-kojâ) — in no place
  • Persian: تورقوزآباد (turquz-âbâd) — in no place
  • Plautdietsch: noanich — in no place
  • Polish: nigdzie — in no place
  • Portuguese: em nenhum lugar — in no place
  • Portuguese: em lugar nenhum — in no place
  • Romagnol: invèl — in no place
  • Romanian: nicăieri — in no place
  • Romanian: niciunde — in no place
  • Russian: нигде́ (nigdé) — in no place
  • Serbo-Croatian: нигде — in no place
  • Serbo-Croatian: нигдје — in no place
  • Serbo-Croatian: nigde — in no place
  • Serbo-Croatian: nigdje — in no place
  • Slovak: nikde — in no place
  • Slovene: nikjer — in no place
  • Spanish: en ninguna parte — in no place
  • Spanish: en ningún lugar — in no place
  • Spanish: en ningún sitio — in no place
  • Spanish: por ningún lado — in no place
  • Spanish: en ningún lado — in no place
  • Swedish: ingenstans — in no place
  • Ukrainian: ніде́ (nidé) — in no place
  • Welsh: yn unman — in no place
  • Welsh: yn unlle — in no place
  • Welsh: nunlle — in no place
  • Arabic: إِلَى لَا مَكَان (ʔilā lā makān) — to no place
  • Azerbaijani: heç yerə — to no place
  • Azerbaijani: heç yana — to no place
  • Bashkir: бер ҡайҙа ла (ber qayźa la) — to no place
  • Belarusian: нікуды́ (nikudý) — to no place
  • Bulgarian: наникъде (nanikǎde) — to no place
  • Catalan: enlloc — to no place
  • Czech: nikam — to no place
  • Danish: ingen vegne — to no place
  • Danish: ikke fremad — to no place
  • Dutch: nergens heen — to no place
  • Dutch: nergens naartoe — to no place
  • Esperanto: nenien — to no place
  • Finnish: ei minnekään — to no place
  • Finnish: ei mihinkään — to no place
  • French: nulle part — to no place
  • Galician: ningures — to no place
  • German: nirgendwohin — to no place
  • German: nirgendshin — to no place
  • Greek: πουθενά (pouthená) — to no place
  • Haitian Creole: okenn kote — to no place
  • Hungarian: sehová — to no place
  • Hungarian: sehova — to no place
  • Ido: adnulaloke — to no place
  • Ingrian: kuhukaa — to no place
  • Italian: da nessuna parte — to no place
  • Japanese: どこへも (doko-emo) — to no place
  • Kapampangan: nokarinmo — to no place
  • Kapampangan: nokarinpamo — to no place
  • Latin: nequo — to no place
  • Old English: nāhwider — to no place
  • Old English: nāhwǣr — to no place
  • Persian: هیچجا (hič-jâ) — to no place
  • Persian: ناکجا (nâkojâ) — to no place
  • Polish: donikąd — to no place
  • Russian: никуда́ (nikudá) — to no place
  • Slovak: nikam — to no place
  • Slovak: nikde — to no place
  • Spanish: a ninguna parte — to no place
  • Spanish: a ningún lugar — to no place
  • Spanish: a ningún lado — to no place
  • Swedish: ingenstans — to no place
  • Ukrainian: нікуди́ (nikudý) — to no place
  • Welsh: i unman — to no place
  • Welsh: i unlle — to no place
  • Welsh: i nunlle — to no place
Real reading context

nowhere in complete knowledge articles