by no means
65
4.2
- idiom
:
de ninguna manera
- The process, which involves dozens of trucks, is by no means a gentle operation.
- by no means the only
- by no means exhaustive
- by no means limited
And these people were by no means fools or, or, or.
- And these people were by no means fools or, or, or.
- One way or another, Deng was by no means ready to retire.
- But these are by no means useless.
- But Republican Spain is by no means safe from regime change.
- Renters are by no means off the hook in this situation.
- So it's by no means perfect, but it is now harder.
- And by no means do I have extreme intellect.
- It's, it's, I mean, not, not to, you know, I'm, I'm by no means an Elon Musk, but.
- And we're we're by no means trying to, you know, push this on anybody.
- Now, I want to be clear, however, that these are by no means required.
Examples
-
This was by no means a scientific survey.
-
Now, I want to be clear, however, that these are by no means required.
-
And we're we're by no means trying to, you know, push this on anybody.
-
But it is by no means certain that my wife is any longer your friend.
-
These lessons are powerful, but of course by no means are they easy.
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And this is by no means a universal value.
-
But these are by no means useless.
-
The amount of money involved, while by no means adequate for the need, was still significant.
Academic text (1990) -
All I'm saying is that it's by no means obvious.
-
This was by no means a scientific survey.
Synonyms
20
4.2
Says that something must never happen in any situation
3
5.6
It is not true or possible in any way
Not true or possible in any way
Not true at all
Say it to show you will never do something
Antonyms
How Negative
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'by' (prepositional marker), 'no' (negation) and 'means' (method/tool) combine to yield the sense 'by no method' → 'in no way/not at all', so a learner who knows the words can often infer the basic negative meaning. However, the fixed, slightly idiomatic word order and the somewhat formal/archaic use of 'by' make the exact emphatic usage less transparently predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
By no means comes from the image of a traveller who cannot find a path: by (by way) and means (a way) but there are no means — no way to go. So by no means means 'not at all'.