phrase

• Used to suggest tentatively that something may be the case (often the opposite of something previously implied)

  ‘I haven't made much of this—if anything, I've played it down’

  More example sentences

  • ‘My own experience suggests we are if anything already too generous on this point.’
  • ‘The trend under the previous administration was, if anything, the reverse of this.’
  • ‘We could have some tests to see what, if anything, is wrong, and see if anything can be done to fix it.’
  • ‘Indeed, if anything the worship of nature is probably more intense today than at any time this century.’
  • ‘Mrs Catterson says she should have been alerted as she is the point of contact if anything happens to her mother.’
  • ‘Councillors have agreed to meet with officers to see if anything can be done about the objections raised.’
  • ‘What the play does lack if anything is a sense of balance in that the police's perspective is barely touched on.’
  • ‘School admissions will not be a lottery, if anything the process will be more straightforward.’
  • ‘The onset of Foot of Mouth disease, if anything, fuelled spending in urban shopping malls.’
  • ‘There is simply no need for it and if anything such phrases have now become counter-productive.’