nothing but

/ˈnʌθɪŋ bʌt/

phrase★Intermediate— only, merely

informal

Only, exclusively, or merely

The restaurant serves nothing but vegetarian dishes.

The restaurant serves only vegetarian dishes.

He did nothing but sleep during his vacation.

He only slept during his vacation.

💡

Often used to emphasize that something is the only thing happening or being done.

Collocations

nothing but troubleonly trouble, exclusively troublenothing but the bestonly the best, exclusively the best

almost, nearly

not at all, far from

Use 'nothing but' to emphasize that something is the only thing happening or being done.

This phrase is informal and often used in casual conversation.

Combination of 'nothing' and 'but', where 'but' is used to mean 'except' or 'only'.

This phrase is commonly used in informal contexts to emphasize that something is the sole focus or occurrence.

nothing

not anything

root

but

except, only

root

English Dictionary