not exactly

idiom

informal

—used in speech as a mild way of saying "no" especially to indicate that what someone has said is not completely correct or true

"He's your boss, isn't he?" "Not exactly."

"Did everything go the way you planned it?" "Not exactly."

—used as a humorous or ironic way to say "not"

He's not exactly the smartest guy I've ever met.

Examples of not exactly in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Richard Nixon, the winner, was not exactly the soothing, unifying figure the country needed at that moment. —

Foreign Affairs, 14 July 2024 Experts say yes—but not exactly in the way many TikTok users claim. —

Amber Sayer, Health, 8 July 2024 The story of a farmer tasked with protecting a magic baby from an evil queen is not exactly the most original story in the world, but that hasn’t stopped this from becoming a classic, with Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood and Val Kilmer waving a sword around. —

Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 4 July 2024 That’s not exactly a stand-firm-until-the-last-dog-dies endorsement. —

Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for not exactly

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'not exactly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.