Anything but means not at all, far from: the first week was anything but easy. The logic is that any description fits except this one. It's sharper than not easy. In requests the meaning is literal: choose anything but the red folder means take any folder except the red one.
Want to use anything but in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
anything but + adjective / anything but + noun
- The first week in the new job was anything but easy.
- His reply was anything but an apology.
- You can choose anything but the red folder.
What changed
First versionThe instructions were anything but not clear; nobody understood them.
RevisionThe instructions were anything but clear; nobody understood them.
The sentence is negative, so a not seems needed. But the negative is already built into anything but: anything but clear means not clear at all. With not, it would say anything except unclear and contradict nobody understood them.
Nothing but means only: nothing but praise is all praise. Anything but praise is anything except praise. Not very clear is a soft not quite clear; anything but clear is a sharp not clear at all.
Your turn
The room was extremely noisy, so it was anything but ___.
Show the answer
quiet — The noisy room wasn't quiet at all, so anything but quiet. Anything but noisy would mean not noisy at all and contradict the start.
Describe a trip, an exam or a first day at work that turned out completely different from what you expected. Use anything but.
The group discussion was anything but boring; everyone had a different story to tell.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.