anything but

Hello,

            May I ask about the meaning of "anything but"? For example, he is anything but neat. Does this mean he is neat or not neat? Thank you very much. May I also ask whether we can use "unneat" for "not neat"?

             Thank you very much.

Hi! "Anything but neat" means someone is definitely NOT neat. They  may have any quality other than neatness. "Anything but" is a way of emphasizing NOT.

It is not correct to say "unneat." I would say "not neat" or simply "messy."

Amy