not really
idiom
—used to say "no" in a way that is not very forceful or definite
"Was the movie good?" "Not really."
"Do you want to go to a movie?" "No, not really."
Examples of not really in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Yet the designer is not really after a drastic acceleration.
—
Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
Episode 2 of Survivor 49 featured more tribe futility, a twist that ended up not really going anywhere, and a special cameo by the Easter Bunny.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Oct. 2025
That might not show up on the scoreboard Friday against the Suns or Sunday against the Golden State Warriors, and that’s not really the point.
—Dan Woike, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
That’s not really the way our work should be being used.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not really
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Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2025
Episode 2 of Survivor 49 featured more tribe futility, a twist that ended up not really going anywhere, and a special cameo by the Easter Bunny.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Oct. 2025
That might not show up on the scoreboard Friday against the Suns or Sunday against the Golden State Warriors, and that’s not really the point.
—Dan Woike, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
That’s not really the way our work should be being used.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not really
Cite this Entry
“Not really.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20really. Accessed 10 Oct. 2025.
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