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Glite Dictionary
all get out

all get out

1 9.9
A very large amount or degree that people use to show emphasis
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : extremadamente
  • We can all get out!

Examples

  • But funny as all get out.

    Blog text (33)

  • The cat was curious as all get out when it spotted the toy mouse.

  • I am mad as all get out.

    Blog text (2)

  • Happy as all get out about the new low, despite their "concern" about the shrinking ice cap.

    Blog text (33)

  • The cop was wrong as all get out, but the snowballers were supposed to be grown, law-abiding citizens, right?

    Blog text (13)

  • And sometimes, being mad, sad, or disgusted as all get-out is okay and completely appropriate too, and it doesn't have to mean your argument sucks.

    Blog text (13)

  • With all the extra fuss about test scores this year, I'll bet many teachers doubled down on their efforts to teach explicitly to the test in spite of the fact that this work is as boring as all get out, and I can't imagine that they got much bang for their buck.

    Blog text (13)

  • He was quiet as all get out during the meeting, absorbing all the information.

  • That roller coaster was exciting as all get out; I can't wait to ride it again!

Synonyms

awfully
vsall get out
351 1.4

To show strong feeling or degree

is used especially in comparisons or similes rather than general intensifying
all-fired
vsall get out
  • Archaic
2 9.9

Very, put before a describing word to show strong feeling

is similar but more neutral and not marked as US informal
as all get-out
vsall get out
  • Informal
1 9.9

A very informal phrase people use to mean extremely

is the same emphasis but used without the leading as phrase
all-firedly
vsall get out
  • Archaic
9.9

In a very strong way, often in casual talk

is the common nonregional form used more broadly
billy-ho
vsall get out
  • Archaic
9.9

A very large amount or degree

is similar but used more generally, not mainly in that comparison phrase
billyoh
vsall get out
  • Archaic
9.9

A very large amount or very strong degree in informal British speech

is the same emphasis but more widely usable outside those similes
billyo
vsall get out
  • Archaic
9.9

Follows the word like to show that something happens a lot or very strongly

is used more broadly in emphasis, not mainly inside simile phrases
out and away
vsall get out
6.2

Far better than the others

is about strong emphasis rather than being greater than others

Antonyms

minimal
196 3.3

Very small in amount or degree

insignificant
104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

How Intense

all get out
  • Informal
1 9.9
a little
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

all get out singular
all get outs plural

Morphology

all + get + out

The phrase 'all get out' functions as a colloquial intensifier meaning 'extremely', and this sense is not derivable from the literal meanings of 'all' + 'get' + 'out'. The particle/verb meanings (e.g. 'get out' = leave or exclamation) do not predict an intensifying degree sense, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents but has not seen the idiom would be unlikely to infer its meaning.

Etymology

The expression all get out may come from a 1800s American scene: imagine a small room where everyone suddenly rushes to leave — they all get out at once. That's why all get out is used to mean 'very' or 'extremely', as in 'fast as all get out'.