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.

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

Curley was saying, in so many words, that the justices will not be handing down any more decisions until then, in a term in which they have so far decided cases at a glacial pace.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 27, 2023

Passantino pressed her to stay the course, telling her in so many words that she wouldn't get caught.

From Salon • Dec. 27, 2022

“And I’ll bring her clothes too, as soon ...” I hesitated, not wanting to admit my abject poverty, at least not in so many words.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

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