in name

prepositional phrase

Nominally, not essentially.

“He is a friend in name only.”

Similar
in name only

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. Nominally, not essentially.

    He is a friend in name only.

    2 more examples

    From briefing material I was aware that Chiang Ching was an ideological fanatic who had strongly opposed my trip. She had led a checkered and contradictory life, from her younger days as an aspiring actress to her leadership of the radical forces in the Cultural Revolution of 1966. For many years she had been Mao's wife in name only, but there was no better name in China, and she had used it for all it was worth to build up her personal faction of supporters.

    1978, Richard Nixon, “The Presidency 1969–1972”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 569

    Ethnobotanist Gary P. Nabhan of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix made a painful pilgrimage to see Texas wild-rice for his 1989 book, Enduring Seeds. He called it a surviving species in name more than in behavior.

    1990 Summer, E. Hoyt, “Wild relatives”, in Wilderness, volume 53, number 189, page 45

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbby title or repute though not in fact

Similar
in name only
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Italian di nome
  • di nomeTranslations
Japanese 名ばかり
  • 名ばかり (na bakari)Translations
Romanian cu numele
  • cu numeleTranslations
Russian на слова́х
  • на слова́х (na slováx)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

in name. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20name

MLA

“in name.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20name. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “in name,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/in%20name.

Source: in name on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.