Meanings
adverbnot really (not comparable)
- not comparableTo a low degree, not particularly, not especially.
A: Are you hungry yet? B: Not really.
2 more examples
I’m not really hungry now, so let’s have dinner later.
I asked him if it had been a hard fight. "Not really," he said.
2022 September 13, 2:54 from the start, in See what Russians left behind after being run out of city, CNN - not comparableNot actually (a hypothetical will not, in fact, come to pass), often rhetorical.
You’re not really going to marry him, are you?
Translations
Danish ikke rigtig, egentlig ikke
- ikke rigtigto a low degree
- egentlig ikketo a low degree
Dutch niet echt
- niet echtto a low degree
French pas vraiment
- pas vraimentto a low degree
Hungarian nem igazán
- nem igazánto a low degree
Polish niezbyt, nie bardzo
- niezbytto a low degree
- nie bardzoto a low degree
Russian не о́чень, не сли́шком-то
- не о́чень (ne óčenʹ)to a low degree
- не сли́шком-то (ne slíškom-to)to a low degree
Cite this entry
APA
not really. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20really
MLA
“not really.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20really. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “not really,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/not%20really.
Source: not really on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.