if not

English

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

if not

1. (plain literal sense) Indicates that a statement is true in the event that a condition is not satisfied.

   The plant will die if not watered.

2. Indicates that one statement at least is true, and possibly a second, stronger statement is true; perhaps even.

   He did as well as expected, if not better.

   • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?

3. Indicates that one statement is true, but a second is not; but not.

   I saw that he had improved his manners if not his scruffy appearance.

Translations

Translations

• Arabic: إِلَّا (ar) (ʔillā)
• Dutch: zo niet
• Esperanto: se ne
• Finnish: ellei (fi), jos ei
• French: pour ne pas dire (fr), si pas, sinon (fr)
• Italian: se non (it)
• Japanese: ではないにしろ (de wa nai ni shiro)
• Latin: nisi (la)
• Polish: jeśli nie, jeżeli nie
• Portuguese: se não (pt), senão (pt)
• Russian: е́сли не (jésli ne)
• Spanish: si no

See also

• if not for
• nothing if not

Anagrams

• notif