if not

idiom

1

—used to talk about the negative result or effect of something

You should study. If not, you won't pass the test.

2

—used to express surprise about meeting someone when it is not expected

So I went to the game and who should I see there if not my old friend Tom!

Examples of if not in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Now, Cuba may be experiencing the most profound moment of economic uncertainty that the island’s residents have endured in decades if not over their entire lives. —Patrick Oppmann, CNN Money, 18 Feb. 2026

There is fear across the sport that the latter will initiate a work stoppage that could threaten part, if not all, of the 2027 season with players ready to oppose owners’ latest attempt to implement a salary cap. —Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 18 Feb. 2026

That this announcement happened at Rockefeller Center in New York City, arguably the immigrant capital of the United States, if not the world, was fitting. —Melanie Anzidei, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026

The American colonists’ decision to frame their rebellion as a quarrel with a man rather than a system was brilliant from a public-relations standpoint, if not exactly honest. —The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026

Rhymes for if not

• allot
• barat
• begot
• besought
• bethought
• bloodshot
• boycott
• buckshot
• crackpot
• croat
• culottes
• dashpot