Word.ws English Dictionary

I'm not being funny

I'm not being funny phrase: used as a softening preface to a statement that might be taken as offensive or malicious.

Phrase

I'm not being funny

  1. (UK, idiomatic) Used as a softening preface to a statement that might be taken as offensive or malicious.
    • Clara: Well, I'm not being funny, but those clothes aren't really suitable for having meetings with clients.
      John: Really?
      Clara: I think so – a shirt and tie, or suit and shirt would be better.2009, Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hockly, Learning English as a Foreign Language For Dummies, page 296
    • I'm not being funny, but you make me nervous.2011, Martin Stanley, The Gamblers, page 280

Questions about I'm not being funny

What does I'm not being funny mean?
I'm not being funny means used as a softening preface to a statement that might be taken as offensive or malicious.
What part of speech is I'm not being funny?
I'm not being funny is a phrase.

Words near I'm not being funny in the dictionary

  1. I'm looking for a grocery store
  2. I'm looking for a job
  3. I'm lost
  4. I'm married
  5. I'm mute
  6. I'm not being funny
  7. I'm not going to lie
  8. I'm not religious
  9. I'm not telling you
  10. I'm not the one
  11. I'm pregnant

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: I'm not being funny (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-I'm not being funny.ogg.

Cite this entry: “I'm not being funny.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/i%27m_not_being_funny. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.