at all
Idioms-
In any way or manner, as in Is she able to sing at all?
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To any extent, as in Was she at all surprised?
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For any reason, as in Why bother at all?
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In the slightest degree, under any circumstances, as in She simply refused to walk at all . This construction often occurs in the negative, as in He was not at all frightened . All four senses of this phrase date from the mid-1300s.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"At all times, I called for unity... I did not think about myself, but about the more than 34 million Peruvians," she said in a video statement released after the impeachment vote.
From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025
"At all times, the government acted within the confines of the law and in the public interest," the ministry said in a statement.
From BBC • May 15, 2025
At all of the other eight undergraduate campuses, Asian Americans were the leading group admitted.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2024
At all sites combined, 65.8 percent of the pre-hurricane adult sponges were genets compared to 85.1 percent of the post-hurricane juveniles.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2024
Full well they laughed with counterfeited glee At all his jokes for many a joke had he.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
