How to Use not really in a Sentence
not really
idiom-
Not only is there not much to see from the summit; there’s not really much of a summit to see from.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 24 Oct. 2023
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Somebody who is not really worried about what he or she’s got to say about me.
—Mike Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 7 May 2024
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The only problem is that you’re not really supposed to fish for them.
—Joe Cermele, Field & Stream, 26 July 2023
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Make no mistake, there’s not really such a thing as a bad jerkbait, per se.
—Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 9 May 2024
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He can be brought up to see it as a grievance, or he can be brought up to not really notice it one way or the other.
—Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2023
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Right now, there's not really an open door with Gabe and Garrison.
—Dory Jackson, Peoplemag, 6 Nov. 2023
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That’s not really part of the story for the average person.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2023
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His daddy issues, as the film presents them, won’t explain it (not really).
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 20 May 2024
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That’s not really a good lesson to ignore the person that’s helping us.
—Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2023
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It was revealed in the series finale that Sheen’s character was not really dead, but died in the finale when a piano fell on his head.
—Joe Otterson, Variety, 18 Apr. 2023
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The idea of living a life with an awful lot of ambition, and possibly at times not really seeing what’s around you.
—Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2023
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Tens of millions of people is not really a cult following.
—Seija Rankin, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024
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Unlimited free agency is not really in the best interest of the sport.
—Jim Alexander, Orange County Register, 12 Apr. 2024
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Apple has come a long way from those 2006 ads, finally acknowledging that the Mac is not really virus-proof.
—Maxwell Zeff / Gizmodo, Quartz, 12 Feb. 2024
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That’s not really an issue since our reviewer wasn’t impressed with the app when testing the more expensive Pro Plus.
—Condé Nast, WIRED, 11 July 2023
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But while this beef has crossed over into pop culture, the reality is the feud was strictly for hip-hop culture and not really anyone else.
—Carl Lamarre, Billboard, 7 May 2024
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The all-black website reveals no new details about her upcoming vision, but that’s not really going to stop us.
—Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 27 July 2023
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And while some companies are investing in office space to encourage their workers to come back to the office, that’s not really the case at Creatio.
—Aruni Soni, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023
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My dad grew up in a rural part of China where most of his relatives are not really documented.
—Rachel Martin, NPR, 9 June 2024
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There were not really books around at all, and in a dictatorship everything was censored.
—Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024
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This is a true sipping gin, and has almost moved into its own category—not quite a whisky, but not really a true gin anymore with deep notes of leather, vanilla, and dark fruit.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 1 Feb. 2024
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There’s usually pomp and circumstance [in royal couplings] but that’s not really what was there.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024
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The series has already garnered attention for its boundary-pushing bedroom scenes — in the premiere, Tim sucks Hawk’s toes — but shock value was not really the point.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2023
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That sounds good in theory, but as constructed, not really.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 28 Sep. 2023
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This is also a side of China that’s not really seen much on an international level.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 20 Jan. 2024
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But Trump’s efforts are not really about finding unbiased jurors to fairly hear his case.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 8 Aug. 2023
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That’s not really my speed at all, which isn’t necessarily for everybody as well.
—Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2023
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Although not really a surprise danger, hurricane‐force winds – 74 mph or more – can destroy buildings and mobile homes, the hurricane center warned.
—Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 20 May 2024
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Some patients are under the misconception that these systems are not really that secure.
—WIRED, 8 Aug. 2023
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The problem is there’s not really a no-brainer defensive tackle option at 21 if Murphy is gone, as now expected.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'not really.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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