# nothing if not

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/nothing-if-not
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

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

## Examples

- He is nothing if not persistent.
- The politician is nothing if not ambitious, as she has already started planning her next campaign.
- The professor was nothing if not thorough, spending hours correcting every minor error in our lengthy research papers.

## Origin

The phrase asserts the truth of a statement by the literal claim that the alternative is void. The construction functions as a formal insistence, suggesting that if the quality in question were absent, nothing of the subject would remain.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.