How to Use but in a Sentence

but

preposition

• Who but you would think that?
• There was no one there but him.
• I didn't tell anyone but my sister.
• Thus the world cannot help but sway to the Fed’s tunes.
  — The Economist, 14 June 2018
• Now the Cubs don’t have to do anything but open the gates.
  — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 3 July 2018
• Why play by the rules of a world that brought you nothing but fear?
  — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2019
• Still, Couper had nothing but nice things to say about the wedge.
  — Nick Kindelsperger, chicagotribune.com, 21 June 2018
• The fire left behind nothing but the steel frame and part of the T-Rex’s tail.
  — Matthew Martinez, star-telegram, 23 Mar. 2018
• There's a time zone that's nothing but ocean, in case the fish have watches.
  — Ken Jennings, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Jan. 2018
• On the whole, space is mostly empty, but the space around the Earth is anything but.
  — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 3 Apr. 2018
• The last week my mindset has just been nothing but wins.
  — Shawn Courchesne, courant.com, 4 Aug. 2019
• Nicky Lopez had little choice but to just keep his head down and grind.
  — Blake Baumgartner, Naperville Sun, 7 July 2018
• But what about those without any choice but to get married in the fall?
  — Ben Flanagan, AL.com, 27 Oct. 2017
• Firefighters had no choice but to sit back and hope the fire wouldn't grow in the meantime.
  — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 18 June 2018
• Pierce Brosnan can’t help but gush about his youngest son, Paris.
  — Alexia Fernandez, PEOPLE.com, 12 June 2019
• But the weeks leading up to that photo were anything but adorable.
  — Christina Oehler, Health.com, 13 May 2020
• There is no other way but to give a clear message to the public.
  — Jim Daley, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2019
• So the notion that this has been anything but amazing for the far left and the far right is just ridiculous.
  — Eric Johnson, Recode, 28 Sep. 2018
• Despite the pleas for calm, the nation seemed anything but as a fitful week drew to a close.
  — Robert Klemko, BostonGlobe.com, 29 May 2020
• That’s what all but demands the Cowboys reach a long-term agreement with him.
  — Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas News, 14 Apr. 2020
• Nvidia Graphs are supposed to be hard math, but this one is anything but.
  — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, 13 Sep. 2018
• Antek kissed no one but his wife and served no man anything but whisky and beer.
  — Bill Savage, Chicago Reader, 13 June 2018
• Better yet, do it and tell no one but your favorite group chat.
  — Connie Wang & Lily Fulop, Refinery29, 7 Apr. 2020
• The sauce should have a pleasant orange flavor but not be too sweet.
  — Daniel Neman, sacbee, 26 June 2018
• The hard thing is that this is anything but an ordinary case.
  — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 25 July 2019
• The dinners are four courses and cost $55, which includes tax but not tip.
  — Carol Deptolla, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 14 Aug. 2019
• Honnold doesn’t just answer queries about what to wear to the rock gym (anything but tight jeans, right?).
  — Patrick Farrell, WIRED, 26 Aug. 2019
• And the start of its 2019 season has been anything but consistent.
  — Pat Stoetzer, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 13 Sep. 2019
• That’d be a slap in the face of all African-Americans, for whom the issue is anything but tiresome.
  — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 17 Feb. 2020
• Let the tooth of one gear reach close to the rim of the other gear but not quite touching (just a couple millimeters away from the rim).
  — Scientific American, 21 Nov. 2019

Last Updated: 9 May 2024