not really

phrase

—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

But the other piece of AISI news last week makes clear just what sort of challenges de Zoete will face—and is indicative of why AISI may not really be the exemplar of savvy AI governance that its boosters like to crow about. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026

He's not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day in the White House. — Nikole Killion, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026

Admittedly, the concepts that moneymaxxing espouses are not really new, though social media has given it a fresh spin and name. — Becca Stanek, TheWeek, 18 Aug. 2026

And they're not really taught the real world things outside of acting that can prepare them for just being a regular human being. — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 18 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for not really

• ideally
• lapilli
• swahili
• freely
• keeley
• mealy
• seely
• steely
• vilely
• intraperitoneally
• kiswahili
• microvilli