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
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
The Sheinbaum administration has not really succeeded in getting a grip on security and violence in Michoacán, said Bill Booth, a lecturer in Latin American History at University College London.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
That’s lowkey some s—t white people say, and that’s not really us.
—Angel Diaz, Billboard, 5 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for not really
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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
The Sheinbaum administration has not really succeeded in getting a grip on security and violence in Michoacán, said Bill Booth, a lecturer in Latin American History at University College London.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
That’s lowkey some s—t white people say, and that’s not really us.
—Angel Diaz, Billboard, 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 8 Nov. 2025.
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