From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishanything butanything butNOTused to emphasize that someone or something does not have a particular quality Maria is anything but stupid! → anything
Examples from the Corpus
anything but• Underneath all the rebelliousness, of course, I never envisioned anything but a conventional Valparaiso-like future for myself.• No Hollywood director would have the imagination to cast him as anything but a thug.• And the burnished vintage settings in South Philadelphia look anything but depressed.• The sales clerk was anything but helpful.• Before Sir Oswald could do anything but lift his arm up, a man swung his arm round Sir Oswald's neck.• On admission he was unable to swallow anything but liquids and mashed solids.• Californians, in fact, seem to have anything but politics on their minds.• The theology of the Exposition was anything but subtle.• I feel numb to anything but thoughts of Marc. 