From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishby any stretch (of the imagination)by any stretch (of the imagination)IMPOSSIBLE spoken used to emphasize that a negative statement is true My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. → stretch
Examples from the Corpus
by any stretch (of the imagination)• Not that Tiptoe could be called a child, by any stretch of the imagination.• Raising children isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination.• I am very puzzled as to how either of these two items can be cash flows by any stretch of the imagination.• That is not ` good news' by any stretch of the imagination!• It could not by any stretch of the imagination be anything else.• All good things but not wildly expensive, not by any stretch of the imagination.• Management is typically the reason people walk out, but it is not 100 percent by any stretch of the imagination.• The program isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination. 