by any stretch of the imagination
(redirected from not by any stretch)by any stretch of the imagination
As much or as far as one is able to imagine or believe. Usually used in the negative. It's looking like we're not going to win by any stretch of the imagination. I can't see by any stretch of the imagination how we're going to pull this off.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
by any stretch of the imagination
as much as anyone could imagine; as much as is imaginable. (Often negative.) I don't see how anyone by any stretch of the imagination could fail to understand what my last sentence meant.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
by any stretch of the imagination
If something is not true by any stretch of the imagination, it is definitely not true. The Danube was not by any stretch of the imagination blue. Note: People sometimes just say by any stretch. He is not regarded as a serious biographer by any stretch.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012