Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

anything but

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.52 in modern English

Syllables: any-thing but
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

Not at all; quite the contrary (of).

Example Sentences

"It wasn't cheap. Anything but."
"It started out as a lively party, now it is anything but."
"As a matter of fact, the methods of primitive accumulation are anything but idyllic."
""They certainly are nice people," I assented to my wife's observation, using the colloquial phrase with a consciousness that it was anything but "nice" English, "and I'll bet that their three children are better brought up than most of----""
"1893, Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sinding (illustrator), William Archer (translator), Eskimo Life, Chapter II: Appearance and Dress, The pure-bred Eskimo would at first glance seem to most of us Europeans anything but beautiful."

Questions

What does anything but mean?: Not at all; quite the contrary (of).

How to pronounce anything but

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “anything but”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “anything but”.
Repeat and practice — Say “anything but” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.