not exactly

idiom

informal

1

—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."

2

—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

For another, the Creature is played by Jacob Elordi, who, like most actors who have convincingly impersonated Elvis Presley, is not exactly the Boris Karloff of his day. —Justin Chang, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2025

At last weekend’s general assembly of Barcelona club members, Laporta tried to thread a delicate path when defending the plan to play a domestic game over 4,500 miles away, knowing that Tebas is not exactly popular with his team’s supporters. —Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

But Cooper works an angle that, while not exactly fresh, is certainly moving. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2025

The ruins were overgrown, yes, though not exactly hidden. —Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for not exactly

• abstractly