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.
Ellison, in a New York Times op-ed, said the states’ lawsuit wasn’t really about antitrust at all, but about whether he could be trusted with CNN.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"If the defendant has any sense of decency at all, he will carry the weight of what he did until the end of his days," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Some of what looks like investing may not really be investing at all.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
This latter stance can breed an idleness that, as we’ve now seen, ensures it may not happen at all.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026
Yet in the large dormitory room there was almost no supervision at all.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
