not really
idiom
—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
Spending big on a player who is statistically one of the worst defensive first basemen in baseball does not really play into that desire.
—
Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Nov. 2025
That explanation has not really washed.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 12 Nov. 2025
This was something that communism corrected to a certain degree, but not really.
—Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
And yet, however rich their memories or personalities become, bots are nothing like people, not really.
—Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2025
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Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Nov. 2025
That explanation has not really washed.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 12 Nov. 2025
This was something that communism corrected to a certain degree, but not really.
—Fiction Non Fiction, Literary Hub, 6 Nov. 2025
And yet, however rich their memories or personalities become, bots are nothing like people, not really.
—Damon Beres, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not really
Cite this Entry
“Not really.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20really. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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