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 The inspector general recommends a number of steps the agency should take before the first flight with astronauts, scheduled for no sooner than September of next year. —

Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 May 2024 The second dose should be given no sooner than 28 days after the first. —

Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 21 Mar. 2024 Sam crosses paths with Tozawa in the hallway no sooner than getting clear of Nagata. —

Andy Andersen, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2024 Guests can begin lining up at 6 a.m. on May 11, no sooner. —

Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 30 Apr. 2024 Criminals surely won’t give them up, no sooner than a mechanic would trade in his wrenches. —

Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2024 Kentucky law currently indicates an unpaid lunch break must be provided no sooner than 3 hours after a shift begins and nor later than 5 hours after the start of a shift. —

Chris Sims, The Courier-Journal, 5 Mar. 2024 Ali Abbasi’s film The Apprentice premiered at Cannes Film Festival on Monday evening and no sooner than the run time could reach its conclusion was the Trump Campaign already threatening to file a lawsuit. —

Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 21 May 2024 But in January, NASA announced that both missions would be delayed, with launch dates no sooner than September 2025 and September 2026. —

Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'no sooner.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.