How to Use not exactly in a Sentence
not exactly
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He’s been dealing with injury issues and has not exactly lived up to the pre-draft hype.
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Zach Harper,
New York Times,
29 June 2026
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Well, not exactly — not yet, anyway — but a Zoom call is what the mayor was describing.
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Steve Bousquet,
Sun Sentinel,
4 July 2026
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This is partly because DeGette is not exactly a mushy moderate.
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Elaine Godfrey,
The Atlantic,
1 July 2026
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That’s not exactly how the Clippers envisioned Leonard’s tenure would end.
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Mark Medina,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
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As shown below though, those opportunities were not exactly gilt-edged as Turkey fired blanks in their first two matches.
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Mark Carey,
New York Times,
28 June 2026
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Now, to be fair, the individual was not exactly running a democracy.
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David Crown,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2026
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But Sony is not exactly a master decision-maker as of late, so whether this comes to pass is extremely uncertain.
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Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2026
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Between the heat and humidity, Fourth of July is not exactly a gentle day for makeup.
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Tanya Sharma,
InStyle,
4 July 2026
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Comparing Wilson's championship wins, which still trail Brady's by four, is not exactly an adequate exercise.
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Bobby Burack Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
1 July 2026
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The watch converted into a diamond choker, its hands set to midnight, did not exactly discourage further investigation.
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Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
2 July 2026
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Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia did not exactly cover themselves in glory eight years ago, winning just three of their 15 games before getting bounced.
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Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
30 June 2026
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'not exactly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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