anything but

Idioms  

1. By no means, not at all, as in He is anything but ambitious for a promotion. William Wordsworth in his long poem, The Prelude (1805–1806), wrote: “Grief call it not, 'twas anything but that.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

anything but

However, her latest work has been anything but child’s play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

But professional football is anything but normal, and waiting out the market turned out to be precisely how Las Vegas would turn around its woebegone football team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

The aftermath is anything but simple, and that “Promising Young Woman” is so vexing only proves there is no easy way to make sense of the senseless.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

The stock market is anything but normal right now — and these charts show it.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

He looked her over, trying to figure out if she’d broken anything, but she seemed okay...that was, other than her odd appearance.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley