"if anything" meaning in English

See if anything in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ɪf ˈɛnɪθɪŋ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /-ni-/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ɪf ˈɛniθɪŋ/ [General-American] Audio: en-us-if anything.ogg [Mid-Atlantic, US], en-au-if anything.ogg [Australia]
Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} if anything (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic) Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied). Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Synonyms (the opposite may be the case): on the contrary Translations (used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case): 如果有的话 (Chinese Mandarin), pikemminkin (Finnish), wenn überhaupt (German), eher (German), doch eher (German), si acaso (Spanish), om något (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-if_anything-en-adv-fPhrNYFn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 59 41 Disambiguation of 'the opposite may be the case': 92 8 Disambiguation of 'used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case': 93 7
  2. (idiomatic) Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer. Tags: idiomatic, not-comparable Translations (used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer): jos mitään (Finnish), eigentlich (German), überhaupt (German), om noe (Norwegian Bokmål)
    Sense id: en-if_anything-en-adv-d8DeqT~E Disambiguation of 'used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer': 10 90

Download JSON data for if anything meaning in English (7.3kB)

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "if anything (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "if"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The situation is, if anything, worsening rather than improving.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, no. If anything, she’s short.”",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, yes. If anything, she’s very tall.”",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1754 December 18, J. Ready, “Mr Urban, I Send You a Remarkable Case in Surgery, with the Bone Itself that Came Away; …”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XXV, London: Printed by D[avid] Henry and R. Cave, at St John's Gate, published January 1755, →OCLC, page 14, column 2",
          "text": "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; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997 September, Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Shadow Matrix (DAW Book Collectors; no. 1065), New York, N.Y.: DAW Books; republished as The Shadow Matrix: A Novel of Darkover, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, 1999",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 January, John G. Hemry, Against All Enemies: A Paul Sinclair Novel, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, page 243",
          "text": "\"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.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied)."
      ],
      "id": "en-if_anything-en-adv-fPhrNYFn",
      "links": [
        [
          "tentatively",
          "tentatively#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "92 8",
          "sense": "the opposite may be the case",
          "word": "on the contrary"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "如果有的话"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "pikemminkin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "wenn überhaupt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "eher"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "doch eher"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "si acaso"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
          "word": "om något"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What can you tell me, if anything, about this book?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1865 March 1, “Proceedings of a Military Commission Convened by Special Orders No. 23, Headquarters District of Colorado, Denver, Colorado Territory, Dated February 1, 1865, in the Case of Colonel J[ohn] M[ilton] Chivington, First Colorado Cavalry”, in Report of the Secretary of War, Communicating, in Compliance with a Resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1867, a Copy of the Evidence Taken at Denver and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, by a Military Commission, Ordered to Inquire into the Sand Creek massacre, November 1864 (39th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Executive Document; no. 26), volume 2, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1867, →OCLC, page 58",
          "text": "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, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Christopher Robichaud, “Bright Colors, Dark Times”, in Ben Dyer, editor, Supervillans and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil is Its Own Reward (Popular Culture and Philosophy; 42), Chicago, La Salle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, phase 2 (The Nature of Evil), page 62",
          "text": "What are values in the first place? What, if anything, make value judgments correct or incorrect?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer."
      ],
      "id": "en-if_anything-en-adv-d8DeqT~E",
      "links": [
        [
          "questions",
          "question#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "speaker",
          "speaker#English"
        ],
        [
          "listener",
          "listener#English"
        ],
        [
          "answer",
          "answer#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
          "word": "jos mitään"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
          "word": "eigentlich"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
          "word": "überhaupt"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "10 90",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
          "word": "om noe"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪf ˈɛnɪθɪŋ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ni-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪf ˈɛniθɪŋ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-if anything.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7e/En-us-if_anything.ogg/En-us-if_anything.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/En-us-if_anything.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Mid-Atlantic",
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US Mid-Atlantic)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-if anything.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/En-au-if_anything.ogg/En-au-if_anything.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/En-au-if_anything.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "if anything"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English uncomparable adverbs"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "if anything (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "if"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The situation is, if anything, worsening rather than improving.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, no. If anything, she’s short.”",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "“Do you think she’s tall?” / “Oh, yes. If anything, she’s very tall.”",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1754 December 18, J. Ready, “Mr Urban, I Send You a Remarkable Case in Surgery, with the Bone Itself that Came Away; …”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XXV, London: Printed by D[avid] Henry and R. Cave, at St John's Gate, published January 1755, →OCLC, page 14, column 2",
          "text": "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; […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1997 September, Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Shadow Matrix (DAW Book Collectors; no. 1065), New York, N.Y.: DAW Books; republished as The Shadow Matrix: A Novel of Darkover, New York, N.Y.: DAW Books, 1999",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 January, John G. Hemry, Against All Enemies: A Paul Sinclair Novel, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, page 243",
          "text": "\"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.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tentatively",
          "tentatively#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "What can you tell me, if anything, about this book?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1865 March 1, “Proceedings of a Military Commission Convened by Special Orders No. 23, Headquarters District of Colorado, Denver, Colorado Territory, Dated February 1, 1865, in the Case of Colonel J[ohn] M[ilton] Chivington, First Colorado Cavalry”, in Report of the Secretary of War, Communicating, in Compliance with a Resolution of the Senate of February 4, 1867, a Copy of the Evidence Taken at Denver and Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, by a Military Commission, Ordered to Inquire into the Sand Creek massacre, November 1864 (39th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Executive Document; no. 26), volume 2, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, published 1867, →OCLC, page 58",
          "text": "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, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Christopher Robichaud, “Bright Colors, Dark Times”, in Ben Dyer, editor, Supervillans and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil is Its Own Reward (Popular Culture and Philosophy; 42), Chicago, La Salle, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, phase 2 (The Nature of Evil), page 62",
          "text": "What are values in the first place? What, if anything, make value judgments correct or incorrect?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "questions",
          "question#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "speaker",
          "speaker#English"
        ],
        [
          "listener",
          "listener#English"
        ],
        [
          "answer",
          "answer#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪf ˈɛnɪθɪŋ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ni-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ɪf ˈɛniθɪŋ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-if anything.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7e/En-us-if_anything.ogg/En-us-if_anything.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/En-us-if_anything.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Mid-Atlantic",
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US Mid-Atlantic)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-if anything.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/En-au-if_anything.ogg/En-au-if_anything.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/En-au-if_anything.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "the opposite may be the case",
      "word": "on the contrary"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "如果有的话"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "pikemminkin"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "wenn überhaupt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "eher"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "doch eher"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "si acaso"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "used to suggest or state tentatively that something may be the case",
      "word": "om något"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
      "word": "jos mitään"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
      "word": "eigentlich"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
      "word": "überhaupt"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "used in questions when the speaker does not know for sure if the listener will have an answer",
      "word": "om noe"
    }
  ],
  "word": "if anything"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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