in so many words

Idioms

In those precise words; also, plainly, directly. For example, He didn't tell me in so many words, but I understood that he planned to apply, or, as Charles Dickens put it in Sketches by “Boz” (1836): “That the Lord Mayor had threatened in so many words to pull down the London Bridge.” [Late 1600s]

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.

Allegedly, Romanians saw an American oil tycoon enjoying easy access to nice cars and other possessions and thought, in so many words, "Why can't that be me?"

From Salon • Apr. 11, 2025

It said, in so many words, they had been wrongly accused of being “kingpins” and did not deserve their 20-year sentences.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2024

His very brief “Why Doug?” page on his website says this in so many words.

From Slate • Aug. 23, 2023

His own dad, who still breaks down every Kraken game over the phone, can’t sum up his middle son in so many words.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 6, 2023

Although I am not articulating it to myself in so many words, I am feeling jealous that Carrie can have Corey while I can never have Rhiannon.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023