mitnichten

by no means

adverb mit-NISH-ten Rare

Origin: from mit + nichten (archaic negation)

Also means

not in the least

Usage Note

mitnichten is an emphatic, rather literary adverb of denial, 'by no means, not in the least', e.g. das trifft mitnichten zu. Stronger and older-sounding than keineswegs, it lends rhetorical weight when refuting a claim outright.

Examples

"Er gab sich mitnichten geschlagen."

Natural Translation

He by no means admitted defeat.

Literal Translation

He gave himself by-no-means beaten.

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