Phrase guide

anything but

adv · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

adv

Meaning 1

Not at all; quite the contrary (of).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • It wasn't cheap. Anything but.
  • It started out as a lively party, now it is anything but.
  • 1893, Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sinding (illustrator), William Archer (translator), Eskimo Life, Chapter II: Appearance and Dress, The pure-bred Eskimo would at first glance seem to most of us Europeans anything but beautiful.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 一點也不 /一点也不 (yīdiǎn yě bù) — not at all
  • Chinese Mandarin: 根本不 (gēnběn bù) — not at all
  • Chinese Mandarin: 決不 /决不 (juébù) — not at all
  • Finnish: kaikkea muuta kuin — not at all
  • French: tout sauf — not at all
  • Italian: tutt'altro — not at all
  • Portuguese: tudo menos — not at all
  • Portuguese: tudo menos isso — not at all
  • Romanian: deloc — not at all
  • Romanian: opusul — not at all
  • Romanian: orice altceva — not at all
  • Russian: что угодно, но не (što ugodno, no ne) — not at all