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not

/nɑt/
/nɒt/
IPA guide

Other forms: nots

The adverb not is used for negation. Do you like drinking cod liver oil? No, I do not like drinking cod liver oil.

Not is a powerful word. When Hamlet says "to be or not to be," he is questioning whether he should live or die, the inverse of living. Just be careful of what's called a "double negative," where you use not with another negating word and end up negating your negation. If you say you don't know nothing about something, that means you do know something. Not is often contracted as in don't, or isn't.

Definitions of not
  1. adverb
    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”
    synonyms: non
Pronunciation
US
/nɑt/
UK
/nɒt/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘not'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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