Definition of NOT

not

Plural: nots

Adverb

  • Used to make a statement negative or express a denial.
  • negation of a word or group of words
    • "he does not speak French"
    • "she is not going"
    • "they are not friends"
    • "not many"
    • "not much"
    • "not at all"

Adv

  • Negates the meaning of the modified verb.
  • To no degree.
  • Used to indicate the opposite or near opposite, often in a form of understatement.
  • Used before a determiner phrase, a pronominal phrase etc. to convey a negative attitude (e.g. denial, sadness, anger) towards something.
  • Used before a non-finite clause (especially a gerund-participial clause) or less commonly a determiner phrase to ironically convey some attitude (e.g. surprise, incredulity, amusement, embarrassment) towards something.

Conj

  • And not.

Intj

  • Used to indicate that the previous phrase was meant sarcastically or ironically.

Noun

  • An instance of using the word “not”; a negation or denial.
  • Alternative letter-case form of NOT (“unary operation on logical values that changes true to false, and false to true”).

Examples

  • Did you take out the trash? — No, I did not. I do not think it was my turn, was it?
  • He hoped his opponent would not challenge his risky Scrabble play.
  • He painted the car blue and black, not solid purple.
  • I really like hanging out with my little brother watching Barney … not!
  • I wanted a plate of shrimp, not a bucket of chicken.
  • I'd rather MoM (did) not stay, cuz the best thing about a holiday is not working.
  • It was felt desirable that she not leave school before fourteen.
  • It's not you, it's me.
  • Not a day passes when I don't regret not having enrolled in medicine.
  • Not another rainy day!
  • Not knowing any better, I went ahead.
  • Not me writing example sentences again.
  • Oh god, not that! Anything but that!
  • Sure, you’re perfect the way you are … not!
  • That is not red; it's green.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English not, nat, variant of noght, naht (“not, nothing”), from Old English *nōht, nāht (“nought, nothing”), short for nōwiht, nāwiht (“nothing”, literally “not anything”), corresponding to ne (“not”) + ōwiht, āwiht (“anything”), corresponding to ā (“ever, always”) + wiht (“thing, creature”).
Cognate with Scots nat, naucht (“not”), Saterland Frisian nit (“not”), West Frisian net (“not”), Dutch niet (“not”), German nicht (“not”). Compare nought, naught and aught. More at no, wight, whit.

Synonyms

non

Scrabble Score: 3

not: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
not: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
not: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 4

not: valid Words With Friends Word