Japanese grammar · no level in the source

あながち〜ないmeaning and usage

Meaning

Not necessarily A; not always A. Often used when preceded by some objective information/data

How to form it

  • あながちnoun/な-adjective (stem)ではない
  • あながちい-adjective (-く form)ない
  • あながちplain formとは言えない

How it is used

Means 'not entirely / not necessarily', giving partial credit to a view one might dismiss; it sounds rather formal. Close to 「必ずしも〜ない」, but it often implies 'there is something to it'.

Examples

  1. 彼が言っていたことはあながち間違いではない。

    What he said is not necessarily mistaken.

  2. 子どもの言うことも、あながち間違いとは言えない。

    What the child says can't be called entirely wrong either.

  3. 彼の心配も、あながち大げさではなかった。

    His worry wasn't entirely overblown after all.