no sooner
idiom
—used to emphasize the short time in which something happens
I had no sooner walked through the door when the phone rang.
No sooner did I walk through the door than the phone rang.
Examples of no sooner in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Before Tuesday’s postponement, the earliest NASA could have launched commander Reid Wiseman and his crew to the moon was no sooner than Sunday.
—
Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Alex Meret, the goalkeeper in their title-winning campaigns, has suffered one injury after another and no sooner came back than Vanja Milinkovic-Savic went down.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026
Construction could begin no sooner than 2029 and probably would take four years to complete.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for no sooner
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Greg Norman-Diamond, FOXNews.com, 3 Feb. 2026
Alex Meret, the goalkeeper in their title-winning campaigns, has suffered one injury after another and no sooner came back than Vanja Milinkovic-Savic went down.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026
Construction could begin no sooner than 2029 and probably would take four years to complete.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026
It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says.
—Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for no sooner
Cite this Entry
“No sooner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/no%20sooner. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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