not that

phrase

—used to say that something said before is not important
I tried to help, not that it mattered.
I saw him with some other woman, not that I care.

Examples of not that in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Chicago has Back of the Yards, once adjacent to its notorious stockyards and not that far from Bubbly Creek, where methane and hydrogen sulfide gas once caused the South Fork of the Chicago River to make like a hot tub. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 Our problem is not that Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Satya Nadella, or Sundar Pichai don’t understand that there are some grave challenges here. — Nilay Patel, The Verge, 22 Oct. 2026 And per-action authorization proves an instruction was permitted, not that the decision behind it was sound; an agent manipulated into a bad choice within its authority still needs monitoring and human oversight. — Julian Durand, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 And although Palestinian parties could hold the balance of who gets to form a coalition, the reality is not that simple. — Tamir Sorek, The Conversation, 20 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for not that

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Not that.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/not%20that. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster