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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

not for nothing en · X

Meanings

  1. Not for no reason; not without reason; (often) for a good reason.
    • Not for nothing did he wait until a moment when Mommy wasn't home to ask for Daddy's permission to watch an R-rated movie.
    • It is not for nothing that linguistics began with morphology and for a couple of centuries was practically nothing more than morphology. 2006, Igor Mel'cuk, David Beck, Aspects of the Theory of Morphology, →ISBN, page 563:
    • Not for nothing is it called the World Wide Wait. Not for nothing has a Dilbert cartoon appeared noting that all the time saved through automation and computers in the last fifty years has been entirely outweighed by people sitting in front of pc's waiting for web pages to load. 1999, Suzanne Bakker, Libraries without Limits, →ISBN:
    • But not for nothing had Hopkins trailed Grant from Wigmore Street to the Orient offices, and from the Orient offices to the Temple, and from the Temple to the Yard. Not for nothing had he cooled his heels round the corner while his paid henchman kept watch on the Yard and gave him the sign when Grant left. Not for nothing had he followed him all the way to Westover. 2012, Josephine Tey, A Shilling for Candles, →ISBN, page 96:
    • "It is not for nothing that airlines recommend keeping seat belts loosely fastened throughout a flight be it long or short," he added. 2024 May 21, Joel Guinto, Simon Fraser, quoting John Strickland, “One dead as London-Singapore flight hit by turbulence”, in BBC News:
  2. (as a disjunct) Used to soften the impact of what is said next, implying that it is worthwhile or important.
    • Listen, dawg, not for nothing, but I'm just horsing around with you when I say stuff like that. 2011, Stephen J. Cannell, Vigilante: A Shane Scully Novel, →ISBN:
    • And not for nothing, but have you thought about going the indy-pub route, as I have with this book? 2013, John Vorhaus, Comedy Writing 4 Life:
    • And not for nothing, but I think you might want to talk to the doctor about a better diet. I suggest more fruits and salads. 2012, Dayton Ward, Vanguard: In Tempest's Wake, →ISBN:
    • A: It's ridiculous how much they charge for insurance premiums around here. B: Not for nothing, when one out of four homeowners in an area has filed a claim within the past five years, premiums aren't gonna be cheap.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, for, nothing.
    • Why did he keep writing all those years for nothing? Not for nothing. For him. 2010, F. J. Bradley, A Natural Place To Hide, →ISBN:
    • Then, let us make sure that her death was not for nothing. 2013, Mike Bird, Iskandar: And the Immortal King of Iona, →ISBN, page 238:

Antonyms

for nothing · for no good reason

Coordinates

well · that said

Relateds

what for · for what

Synonyms

with good reason

Translations (7)

fi ei millään pahalla (used to soften the impact of what is said next) · hu nem véletlenül (for an extremely good reason) · de nicht umsonst (for an extremely good reason) · fi ei turhaan (literally: not for nothing) · hu nem azért mondom (used to soften the impact of what is said next) · fi ei turhaan (for an extremely good reason) · pl nie bez powodu (for an extremely good reason)