not necessarily

phrase

: possibly but not certainly

—used to say that something is not definitely true

Seats in the front row are not necessarily the best.

"We're going to lose this game." "Not necessarily."

Examples of not necessarily in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. — Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 14 July 2026

While not necessarily one of Rauschenberg’s most famous series, the sculptures have periodically been seen in major museums. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 14 July 2026

These effects reflect what’s currently active in the mind, not necessarily hidden or repressed thoughts. — Karen Stollznow, The Conversation, 14 July 2026

The obvious — though not necessarily correct — assumption is that a big and dumbass engineering error is at fault here, a miscalculation that the structural columns of the old building would be able to carry the new stories on top and couldn’t. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 14 July 2026

Rhymes for not necessarily

• extraordinarily
• hereditarily
• pecuniarily
• preliminarily
• unnecessarily
• airily
• caroli
• merrily
• verily
• warily
• wearily
• arbitrarily