with all due respect

Idioms

Although I think highly of you, as in With all due respect, you haven't really answered my question, or With all due respect, that account doesn't fit the facts. This phrase always precedes a polite disagreement with what a person has said or brings up a controversial point. [c. 1800]

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.

But with all due respect, we actually haven’t been here before.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

But, and I ask this with all due respect, is it too late to give this sequel a more clever title?

From Salon • Jan. 4, 2026

"Paris is a tough place to go, but we have always proved that we can compete against anybody and, with all due respect, I think we are going to win the second leg," he said.

From BBC • Apr. 30, 2025

The nurse, the one who had first sounded the alarm said, “Dr. Glassman, with all due respect, this is not the time to be nursing.”

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2023

“It’s a declaration that we entered with a court order, showed you our identification cards, and that everything proceeded properly, with all due respect and proper manners, and that you have no complaints. Sign it!”

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

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