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.
2. adverb [ADVERB before verb]
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.
Synonyms: under no circumstances, no way, not at all, on no account More Synonyms of never
3.
See never ever
4. adverb
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.
5. exclamation
You say 'never!' to indicate how surprised or shocked you are by something that someone has just said.
[spoken, feelings]
6. exclamation
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, feelings]
'What were you up to there?'—'I was head of the information department.'—'Well Inever!'
7.
See will never do/would never do
8. never fear
9. never mind
More Synonyms of never
never in British English
(ˈnɛvə)
adverb, sentence substitute
1.
at no time; not ever
2.
certainly not; by no means; in no case
exclamation
3. Also: well I never!
surely not!
▶ USAGE In informal speech and writing, never can be used instead of not with the simple past tenses of certain verbs for emphasis (I never said that; I never realized how clever he was), but this usage should be avoided in serious writing
Word origin
Old English nǣfre, from ne not + æfreever
never in American English
(ˈnɛvər)
adverb
1.
not ever; at no time
2.
not at all; by no chance; in no case; under no conditions
Word origin
ME nevere < OE næfre < ne, not (see no1) + æfre, ever
More idioms containing
never
never in your wildest dreams
never be given an even break
a watched pot never boils
it never rains but it pours
have never looked back
never the twain shall meet
Examples of 'never' in a sentence
never
This may partly account for the embarrassing fact that most major business initiatives never pay off.
Paul Martin MAKING HAPPY PEOPLE (2005)
There will probably never be a more profitable time for fringe players to emerge.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It never occurred to me she would look for a different way.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
never
British English: never /ˈnɛvə/ ADVERB
Never means at no time in the past or future.
I have never lost the weight I gained in my teens.
American English: never
Arabic: أبداً
Brazilian Portuguese: nunca
Chinese: 决不
Croatian: nikada
Czech: nikdy
Danish: aldrig
Dutch: nooit
European Spanish: nunca
Finnish: ei koskaan
French: jamais
German: nie
Greek: ποτέ
Italian: mai
Japanese: ･･･したことがない
Korean: 결코 ...않다
Norwegian: aldri
Polish: nigdy
European Portuguese: nunca
Romanian: niciodată
Russian: никогда
Latin American Spanish: nunca
Swedish: aldrig
Thai: ไม่เคย
Turkish: asla
Ukrainian: ніколи
Vietnamese: không bao giờ
Chinese translation of 'never'
never
(ˈnɛvəʳ)
adv
(= not at any time) 从(從)未 (cóngwèi)
(emphatic) 决(決)不 (jué bù)
⇒ I would never do anything to hurt him.我决不会做任何伤害他的事情。 (Wǒ jué bù huì zuò rènhé shānghài tā de shìqing.)
never again!下次绝(絕)对(對)不许(許)了! (xiàcì juéduì bùxǔ le!)
I never met him我从(從)未见(見)过(過)他 (wǒ cóngwèi jiànguo tā)
we never saw him again我们(們)再没(沒)有见(見)过(過)他 (wǒmen zài méiyǒu jiànguo tā)
never ever (inf) 永不 (yǒng bù)
never in my life我从(從)未 (wǒ cóngwèi)
⇒ Never in my life have I seen anyone drink as much as you.我从未见过任何人有你这么能喝酒。 (Wǒ cóngwèi jiànguo rènhé rén yǒu nǐ zhème néng hē jiǔ.)
well I never! (inf, o.f.) 真没(沒)想到！ (zhēn méi xiǎngdào!)
All related terms of 'never'
never ever
( inf ) 永不 yǒng bù
never mind
不要紧(緊) bù yàojǐn
never again!
下次绝(絕)对(對)不许(許)了! xiàcì juéduì bùxǔ le!
never-ending
( supply, quest, struggle ) 永无(無)休止的 yǒng wú xiūzhǐ de
well I never!
( inf , o.f. ) 真没(沒)想到！ zhēn méi xiǎngdào!
one never knows
没(沒)有人会(會)知道 méiyǒu rén huì zhīdào
you never know
谁(誰)知道 shuí zhīdào
I never met him
我从(從)未见(見)过(過)他 wǒ cóngwèi jiànguo tā
never in my life
我从(從)未 wǒ cóngwèi ⇒ Never in my life have I seen anyone drink as much as you. → 我从未见过任何人有你这么能喝酒。 Wǒ cóngwèi jiànguo rènhé rén yǒu nǐ zhème néng hē jiǔ.
I've never heard of him
我从(從)来(來)没(沒)听(聽)说(說)过(過)他 wǒ cónglái méi tīngshuō guo tā
it never crossed my mind
我从(從)未想过(過) wǒ cóngwèi xiǎngguo
she never left my side
她从(從)没(沒)离(離)开(開)过(過)我身边(邊) tā cóng méi líkāiguo wǒ shēnbiān
we never saw him again
我们(們)再没(沒)有见(見)过(過)他 wǒmen zài méiyǒu jiànguo tā
I've never seen it before
我以前从(從)没(沒)见(見)过(過) wǒ yǐqián cóng méi jiànguo
he never ceases to amaze me
他不停地使我惊(驚)讶(訝) tā bùtíng de shǐ wǒ jīngyà
he'll never get away with it!
他决(決)不会(會)逃脱(脫)干系(係)的！ tā juébùhuì táotuō gànxì de!
she never does things by halves
她做事总(總)是很彻(徹)底的 tā zuòshì zǒngshì hěn chèdǐ de
the thought never crossed my mind
我从(從)来(來)都没(沒)这(這)么(麼)想过(過) wǒ cónglái dōu méi zhème xiǎngguo
there are never any certainties
从(從)来(來)都没(沒)有必然的事 cónglái dōu méiyǒu bìrán de shì
On no account should the mixture come near boiling.
not on your life (informal)
not on your nelly (British, slang)
not for love nor money (informal)
not ever
Usage note
Never is sometimes used in informal speech and writing as an emphatic form of not, with simple past tenses of certain verbs: I never said that – and in very informal speech as a denial in place of did not: he says I hit him, but I never. These uses of never should be avoided in careful writing.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of on no account
On no account should the mixture come near boiling.