anything but vs only

anything but

adv
  • Not at all; quite the contrary (of). 

only

adv
  • No more than; just. 

  • As recently as. 

  • Without others or anything further; exclusively. 

  • Used to express surprise or consternation at an action. 

  • Introduces a disappointing or surprising outcome that renders futile something previously mentioned. 

adj
  • Alone in a category. 

  • Singularly superior; the best. 

  • Without sibling; without a sibling of the same gender. 

conj
  • Under the condition that; but. 

  • But; except. 

noun
  • An only child. 

How often have the words anything but and only occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )