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

Susie showed me the large black shoe and its pair, women’s shoes, sturdy, a little worn, and not really very attractive. — Lydia Davis, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2026

And his motivations drive the plot as much as Aiden’s do, which is not really the case in any of the other Hellraiser things where Doug was performing the character. — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026

There was a concord between GOP leadership and grassroots activists that’s not really possible for the Democrats of 2026. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026

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

Rhymes for not really

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