ENGLISH
REFERENCE

nothing if not

idiom
Meaning

Certainly; definitely; (sometimes also obliquely) thoroughly; wholly; to a high degree; extremely.


Origin

disputed origin

Literally, asserts the truth of a statement by saying that the alternative is void.

Examples
SIMPLE

He is nothing if not persistent.

CONTEXTUAL

The politician is nothing if not ambitious, as she has already started planning her next campaign.

COMPLEX

The professor was nothing if not thorough, spending hours correcting every minor error in our lengthy research papers.

Anchors to
Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    come to nothing

    To fail completely; to have no result.

  2. 02

    dance on nothing

    To be hanged.

  3. 03

    here goes nothing

    Indicates a lack of confidence or certainty about the activity about to be tried.

  4. 04

    hiding to nothing

    A situation in which victory has little or no value, but defeat has a huge cost.

  5. 05

    if nothing else

    At the very least; as a minimum.

  6. 06

    much ado about nothing

    A lot of fuss or bother about something trivial.

  7. 07

    nothing doing

    Absolutely not; definitely no.

  8. 08

    nothing for it

    No alternative; nothing else to be done or to have recourse to.

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