far

far¹ W1S1 [fa: US fa:r] adv comparative farther [ˈfa:ðə US ˈfa:rðər] or further [ˈfə:ðə US ˈfə:rðər]

superlative farthest [ˈfa:ðıst US ˈfa:r-] or furthest [ˈfə:ðıst US ˈfə:r-]

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1¦(distance)¦

2¦(a lot/very much)¦

3¦(progress)¦

4¦(time)¦

5 go too far

6 go so far/as far as to do something

7 so far

8 so far so good

9 far from something

10 far from it

11 far and wide

12 by far/far and away

13 somebody will/would/should etc go far

14 as/so far as I'm concerned

15 as/so far as something is concerned

16 as/so far as I know/I can remember/I can tell/I can see etc

17 far be it from me to do something

18 as far as it goes

19 not go far

20 in so far as/insofar as/in as far as

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[: Old English; Origin: feorr]

1.) ¦(DISTANCE)¦

a) a long distance

→↑a long way

▪ Have you driven far?

▪ Since I changed jobs, I have to travel further to get to work.

▪ Let's see who can jump the furthest!

far from

▪ The children don't go far from home.

far away

▪ She wants to move as far away from here as possible.

▪ They could hear the sound of water not far away.

far down

▪ He lives further down the street.

further afield

(=further away from where you are now)

▪ If you want to go further afield, there are bicycles for hire.

further north/south etc

▪ Many birds fly further south in the autumn.

▪ The plains stretched for as far as the eye could see (=all the distance you could see) .

▪ The lake is about 4 miles away, but we probably won't get that far (=won't go as far as that place) .

b) how far

used when asking the distance between two places, or when talking about the distance between two places

▪ How far is it to the station?

▪ The man didn't say how far it was to the next town.

c) as far as sth

to a place or point, but not beyond it

▪ They managed to get as far as the Spanish border.

2.) ¦(A LOT/VERY MUCH)¦

very much, or to a great degree

far better/easier etc

▪ The new system is far better than the old one.

▪ There are a far greater number of women working in television than twenty years ago.

far more/less

▪ I enjoyed it far more than I expected.

far too much/long/busy etc

▪ That's far too much to pay.

▪ It would take me far too long to explain.

far above/below/beyond

▪ He bought it for a price that was far beyond (=much more than) its real value.

▪ The teacher said that her writing skills were far below average.

▪ We've kept the original features of the house as far as possible (=as much as possible) .

▪ How far do those old, outdated laws affect today's legislation?

▪ His style was far removed (=very different) from that of Picasso.

not far off/out/wrong

(=close to being correct)

▪ I guessed it would cost $100 and it was $110, so I was not far out.

3.) ¦(PROGRESS)¦

used to talk about how much progress someone makes, or how much effect something has

▪ He started to explain, but he didn't get far (=he did not succeed in saying very much) before Mary interrupted him.

get as far as doing sth

▪ They had got as far as painting the kitchen.

▪ Many people felt that the new law did not go far enough (=did not have a big enough effect, so that more needed to be done) .

4.) ¦(TIME)¦

a long time in the past or the future, or a long time into a particular period

far into

▪ We talked far into the night.

far ahead

▪ They want to plan much further ahead than the next two or three years.

▪ The first petrol-driven car was produced as far back as 1883.

→↑far-off

5.) go too far also take/carry sth too far

to do something too extreme

▪ One day she will go too far.

▪ Some people thought he had gone too far in his criticism of the police.

6.) go so far/as far as to do sth

spoken to do or say something extreme

▪ The government went so far as to try to arrest opposition leaders.

▪ I wouldn't go so far as to say that we agreed on the subject.

7.) so far also thus far formal

until now

▪ So far we have not had to borrow any money.

▪ They're delighted with the replies they've received from the public thus far.

8.) so far so good

spoken used to say that things have been happening successfully until now

▪ We've reached the semi-finals. So far so good.

9.) far from sth

used to say that something very different is true or happens

▪ Conditions are still far from ideal.

far from doing/being sth

▪ Far from helping the situation, you've just made it worse.

10.) far from it

spoken used to say that the opposite of what has just been said is true

▪ 'Are you bored?' 'Far from it. I could listen all night.'

▪ Local people aren't objecting - far from it.

11.) far and wide

over a large area

▪ His fame spread far and wide.

▪ People came from far and wide (=came from many places) to see the concert.

12.) by far/far and away

used to say that something is much better, worse etc than anything else

▪ Watching sport was by far the most popular activity on Saturday afternoons.

▪ Spring is far and away the best time to visit the islands.

13.) sb will/would/should etc go far

used to say that you think someone will be successful in the future

▪ He was the best student in his year, and everyone was sure he would go far.

14.) as/so far as I'm concerned

spoken used when giving your opinion about something

▪ As far as I'm concerned she can come home whenever she likes.

15.) as/so far as sth is concerned

spoken used when you want to talk about a particular thing

▪ As far as money's concerned, there shouldn't be a problem.

16.) as/so far as I know/I can remember/I can tell/I can see etc

spoken used to say that you think that something is true, although it is possible that you do not know all the facts or cannot remember completely

▪ There weren't any buildings there at all, as far as I can remember.

▪ As far as I can see, there's nothing else to discuss.

17.) far be it from me to do sth

spoken used when saying that you do not want to criticize someone or say what they should do, especially when this is what you are really about to do

▪ Far be it from me to try and teach you your job, but don't you think you should have been more careful?

18.) as far as it goes

used to say that an idea, suggestion, plan etc is satisfactory, but only to a limited degree

▪ His theories are fine, as far as they go.

19.) not go far

a) if money does not go far, you cannot buy very much with it

▪ My salary doesn't go very far these days.

b) if a supply of something does not go far, it is not enough

▪ The coffee won't go far if everyone wants a cup.

20.) in so far as/insofar as/in as far as

formal to the degree that

▪ The research suggests that the drug will be successful, in so far as one can draw conclusions from such a small sample size.

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HINT sense 1

Far is used mainly in questions and negative sentences. In other kinds of sentences use a long way away The airport is quite a long way away (NOT is quite far).

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far ²

far² W1S1 adj comparative farther or further

superlative farthest or furthest

1.) a long distance away

≠ ↑near

▪ We can walk to my house from here. It isn't far.

▪ You could see the mountains in the far distance.

2.) the far side/end/corner etc

the side, end etc that is furthest from you

≠ ↑near

▪ They crossed the bridge and walked along the far side of the stream.

▪ There was a piano in the far corner of the room.

3.) the far north/south etc

the part of a country or area that is furthest in the direction of north, south etc

▪ It will become windy in the far north and west.

4.) the far left/right

people who have extreme ↑left-wing or ↑right-wing political opinions

▪ The candidate for the far right got ten percent of the vote.

5.) be a far cry from sth

to be very different from something

▪ The company lost £3 million, which is a far cry from last year's £60 million profit.