Word.ws English Dictionary

not but

not but conjunction: introducing a subordinate clause, frequently with that or what: "it is not that (the following clause) is not the case".

Conjunction

not but

  1. (archaic) Introducing a subordinate clause, frequently with that or what: "it is not that (the following clause) is not the case".
    • Spenser's Calendar, in Mr Dryden's opinion, is the most complete work of this kind which any nation has produced ever since the time of Virgil. Not but that he may be thought imperfect in some few points.1717, Alexander Pope, A Discourse on Pastoral Poetry
    • [H]e did not fail to be extremely disconcerted at his first entrance into a scene of life to which he was totally a stranger. Not but that he met with abundance of people in the country […].1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC

Examples of not but in a sentence

  • Not but your father has good qualities, and I assure you I remember him a very fine gentleman himself.1768, Isaac Bickerstaff, Lionel and Clarissa:
  • This was the only very severe thing I ever said in my Life; not but that I have often felt myself extremely satirical but it was the only time I ever made my feelings public.1792, Jane Austen, ‘Lesley Castle’, Juvenilia:
  • '[…] Fanny used to say that she would marry sooner and better than you did; not but what she is exceedingly fond of you -- but so it happened to strike her. […]'1811, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume II, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas]...
  • Not but what he's artful, even in his defiance of them.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter VI, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published...

Questions about not but

What does not but mean?
Not but means introducing a subordinate clause, frequently with that or what: "it is not that (the following clause) is not the case".
How do you use not but in a sentence?
Not but your father has good qualities, and I assure you I remember him a very fine gentleman himself.
What part of speech is not but?
Not but is a conjunction.

Words near not but in the dictionary

  1. not bad
  2. not be able to hit the broad side of a barn
  3. not be caught dead
  4. not bear thinking about
  5. not before time
  6. not but
  7. not by a jugful
  8. not by any manner of means
  9. not by any means
  10. not care beans
  11. not cricket

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: not but (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.

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