by no means en · ADP
Pronunciation
- /baɪ nəʊ ˈmiːnz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (General-American) audio
- /baɪ noʊ ˈminz/ (General-American)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
From by + no + means (“condition or instrument to achieve a result”).
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) Certainly not; definitely not; not at all.
Every photographer of experience has his own theories and methods of working, but for the last 14 years I have used a Leica exclusively, and have found it best adapted to the somewhat exacting demands of railway photography, which is by no means an easy branch of the art.
1952 February, H[enry] C[yril] Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 78:[S]he was by no means tender-hearted or easily accessible to the feelings of others, like most country-bred people, who always retain in their souls something of the horny hardness of the paternal hands.
1886, Gustave Flaubert, chapter IX, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners […], London: Vizetelly & Co., […], →OCLC, part I, page 72:Well, during our short staycation at Humberston Fitties, just south of Cleethorpes, we cycled through the very unspoilt Lincolnshire Wolds, which are by no means flat and boring as conventional wisdom about the county suggests.
2021 July 28, Christian Wolmar, “Forgotten by the Railways, but Ripe for the Exploring”, in Rail, number 936, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35:He wrote to her the next day, sent her a five-pound note, and at the end of his letter said that if she were very nice and cared to see him for the week-end he would be glad to run down; but she was by no means to alter any plans she had made.
1915, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter LXXIII, in Of Human Bondage, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC, page 376:Cecilia, thanking him for the offer, ſaid ſhe meant novv to make her acknovvledgments for all the trouble he had already taken, but by no means purpoſed to give him any more.
1782, [Frances Burney], “A Wrangling”, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume V, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC, book IX, page 52:For the Maine Garden, I doe not Deny, but there ſhould be ſome Faire Alleys, ranged on both Sides, vvith Fruit Trees; And ſome Pretty Tufts of Fruit Trees, And Arbours vvith Seats, ſet in ſome Decent Order; but theſe to be, by no Meanes, ſet too thicke; […]
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Gardens”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 278:It is by no means as the greatest of poets that Goethe deserves the pride and praise of his German countrymen. It is as the clearest, the largest, the most helpful thinker of modern times.
1879, Matthew Arnold, “A French Critic on Goethe”, in Mixed Essays, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 311:By no means am I suggesting that euthanasia should be outlawed, but rather that we should look at its inherent risks.
Is that all you’ve got to say? ―By no means. Let me explain further.
I was last night at the Funeral, where a confident lover in the play, speaking of his mistress, cries out—"Oh that Harriot! to fold these arms about the waist of that beauteous, struggling, and at last yielding fair!" Such an image as this ought by no means to be presented to a chaste and regular audience.
1711 May 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “FRIDAY, April 28, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 51; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 325:The compilers of the volume may very naturally have been tempted to strain a point so as to admit some specimen from the hand of the most potent if by no means the most perfect of English poetesses [Elizabeth Barrett Browning]: but in that case they would have done much better, in my humble opinion, to select the beautiful and simple memorial stanzas, […]
1891, Algernon Charles Swinburne, “Social Verse”, in Studies in Prose and Poetry, London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 105:
Antonyms
Synonyms
not by any manner of means · on no account · not by a long way · never in a million years · by no stretch · by no manner of means · in no way · never ever · under no circumstances · not a chance · nowise · by no stretch of the imagination · not in the least · not by any means · not in a million years
Translations (107)
ru ниско́лько не (certainly not) · yue 並唔 /并唔 (certainly not) · nl zeker niet (certainly not) · pl bynajmniej (certainly not) · hu semmiféleképpen (certainly not) · ja とっても (certainly not) · fa به هیچ وجه (certainly not) · ru ника́к не (certainly not) · aii ܠܵܐ ܠܥܵܠܲܡ (certainly not) · fi suinkaan (certainly not) · lb kengesfalls (certainly not) · ru нипочём (certainly not) · pl żadną miarą (certainly not) · hu semmiképp (certainly not) · ru ничу́ть (certainly not) · es de ninguna manera (certainly not) · oj gaawiin baapish (certainly not) · sv för all del inte (certainly not) · ro câtuși (certainly not) · el καθόλου (certainly not) · pt nem que a vaca tussa (certainly not) · sh nȉkāko (certainly not) · ang nāteshwōn (certainly not) · ka არანაირად (certainly not) · la minimē (certainly not) · mk во никој случај (certainly not) · cs v žádném případě (certainly not) · hu sehogy (certainly not) · da ingenlunde (certainly not) · la nēquāquam (certainly not) · es de ningún modo (certainly not) · ca de cap manera (certainly not) · nl in geen geval (certainly not) · cmn 絕不 /绝不 (certainly not) · is alls ekki (certainly not) · ba бер ҙә (certainly not) · it a nessun patto (certainly not) · nn ingaleis (certainly not) · fr en aucune manière (certainly not) · sh ни̏ка̄ко (certainly not) · ja 決して (certainly not) · cmn 並未 /并未 (certainly not) · la neutiquam (certainly not) · de auf keinen Fall (certainly not) · rsk нїзач (certainly not) · fi läheskään (certainly not) · it per niente (certainly not) · pt coisa nenhuma (certainly not) · lb absolumang nit (certainly not) · pl pod żadnym względem (certainly not) · pt porra nenhuma (certainly not) · ar أَبَدًا (certainly not) · ru отню́дь не (certainly not) · fr en aucun cas (certainly not) · cmn 並勿 /并勿 (certainly not) · pt nem a pau (certainly not) · de mitnichten (certainly not) · oc ges (certainly not) · cmn 決不 /决不 (certainly not) · nb slett ikke (certainly not) · nb ingenlunde (certainly not) · pt só por cima do meu cadáver (certainly not) · sh naravno da ne (certainly not) · de keineswegs (certainly not) · fi ihmeessä (certainly not) · la haud (certainly not) · fr pas du tout (certainly not) · fi ei millään tavalla (certainly not) · ru ни в ко́ем слу́чае (certainly not) · nb på ingen måte (certainly not) · fi suurin surminkaan (certainly not) · fi mitenkään (certainly not) · la nullo modo (certainly not) · ro sub nicio formă (certainly not) · es ni por asomo (certainly not) · lv nekā (certainly not) · lt anaiptõl (certainly not) · pl w żaden sposób (certainly not) · da på ingen måde (certainly not) · lt niekaip (certainly not) · ka არავითარ შემთხვევაში (certainly not) · sa नहि (certainly not) · ang nā tō þæs hwōn (certainly not) · la nullātenus (certainly not) · nb overhodet ikke (certainly not) · tr asla (certainly not) · fi ei suinkaan (certainly not) · tr hiçbir şekilde (certainly not) · ja とても (certainly not) · ca en absolut (certainly not) · mn харин ч (certainly not) · hu semmiképpen (certainly not) · fr en aucune façon (certainly not) · pt de modo algum (certainly not) · ja 中々 (certainly not) · es ni por el forro (certainly not) · grc μήτι (certainly not) · hy ամենևին (certainly not) · vi ai đời (certainly not) · cmn 並不 /并不 (certainly not) · fr pas le moins du monde (certainly not) · ang nealles (certainly not) · tr ne olursa olsun (certainly not) · fr aucunement (certainly not) · ru нико́им о́бразом не (certainly not) · ka არასგზით (certainly not) · fi ei missään nimessä (certainly not)