Definition
Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied).
Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer.
In Context
- "The situation is, if anything, worsening rather than improving."
- "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, no. If anything, she’s short.”"
- "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, yes. If anything, she’s very tall.”"
- "She [a girl who had her left tibia removed] is quite upright, has no defect either of ſtrength or motion in her leg, and ſcarcely any deformity; if any thing, 'tis a ſmall matter bigger than the other juſt above the ankle, occaſioned by the exuberance of the callus, by which the remains of the tibia are conſolidated with the fibula; […]"
- "My sensitivity to the crystals has, if anything, increased. I have to spend a great deal of energy just keeping myself together, because my impulse is to blast the damn things to flinders."
- ""Then Lieutenant Pullman didn't express uncertainties about any aspect of his primary responsibility or of his other duties onboard the ship?" / "No. If anything, he acted like he was bored by instruction and training. As if he already knew everything. You know the type.""
- "What can you tell me, if anything, about this book?"
- "Question. What, if anything, did the Indians say respecting their ability to procure the white captives then in possession of the Sioux? Answer. That they thought it would be difficult to do so, […]"
- "What are values in the first place? What, if anything, make value judgments correct or incorrect?"
Also Said As
- on the contrary