It's pretty damn close. First class functions give javascript great power. Combined with something like sweet.js and underscore, and javascript becomes a language with the functional library of a lisp along with macros. After that, javascript is just lisp with really weird syntax.
Not to be snarky, but that's like saying 'Javascript is just a Lisp except without the only characteristic that defines a Lisp'.
All the dialects of Lisp differ except in their homoiconicity, which is the one thing that gives Lisps their incredible expressive power.
I get frustrated when I hear people refer to languages with first-class functions as Lisp-like, because lots of languages have first-class functions, but that doesn't give them the power of Lisp - Lisp draws its power from homoiconic structure, which almost no other languages have (certainly not Javascript).
Most of my comment comes from the fact that Eich originally wanted to build a homoiconic lisp for netscape and built many of the features into javascript instead. Still no a lisp ,but it was designed to be similar. http://www.2ality.com/2011/03/javascript-how-it-all-began.ht...
