Idiom
close, but no cigar
Meaning
Used to indicate that one is almost correct or has almost succeeded, but not quite.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You were close, but no cigar.”
“He almost hits the target, but it is close, but no cigar.”
“I guessed the password correctly on the third try, but the first two attempts were close, but no cigar.”
“The runner almost broke the world record by half a second, but it was close, but no cigar.”
“Your answer to the math problem is only one digit off, so it is close, but no cigar.”
“She thought she had finally won the auction, but a last-minute bidder offered five dollars more, so it was close, but no cigar.”
“Although the team reached the final round of the competition, they ultimately fell short; it was close, but no cigar.”
Examples
simple
“You were close, but no cigar.”
“He almost hits the target, but it is close, but no cigar.”
contextual
“I guessed the password correctly on the third try, but the first two attempts were close, but no cigar.”
“The runner almost broke the world record by half a second, but it was close, but no cigar.”
“Your answer to the math problem is only one digit off, so it is close, but no cigar.”
“She thought she had finally won the auction, but a last-minute bidder offered five dollars more, so it was close, but no cigar.”
complex
“Although the team reached the final round of the competition, they ultimately fell short; it was close, but no cigar.”
Origin
The phrase originates in the United States during the 20th century, a reference to the practice of awarding cigars as prizes at carnivals. Those who were moderately successful in a game of skill but failed to achieve the winning threshold were denied the tobacco, their performance deemed insufficient for a reward. The phrase records the specific disappointment of being nearly adequate.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated