How do you say “Close, but no cigar” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Fast, aber nicht ganz, which literally means “Almost, but not quite”. English speakers use close, but no cigar to mean almost successful or correct, but not quite. A plain response to a near miss. It keeps the meaning but loses the English joke about a prize. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural German
Fast, aber nicht ganz
/fast ˈaːbɐ nɪçt ɡants/
- Literal meaning
- “Almost, but not quite”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
85 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
“Fast, aber nicht ganz” works for a guess that is nearly right or a result that falls just short. It is ordinary wording, not a matching German idiom.
You can soften it with encouragement after a game. Said sharply, it can sound just as dismissive as the English.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
We lost the final by one point: close, but no cigar.
German
Wir haben das Finale mit einem Punkt Rückstand verloren: fast, aber nicht ganz.
English
You guessed 1984; it was 1985. Close, but no cigar.
German
Du hast 1984 geraten; es war 1985. Fast, aber nicht ganz.
Related expressions
- What “Close, but no cigar” means in English
- Miss the boat, To be too late for an opportunity.
Last updated 2026-10-01