it figures
4
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
no es sorprendente
- Since she always forgets her keys, it figures that she was locked out of her house again.
- Yeah, it figures
- So it figures
Examples
-
While Ohio State needs the passing game to open up, it figures to rely heavily on the run, as it has all season.
Blog text (7) -
She knows: "It figures," they would say, all grim smiles.
Fiction book (1993) -
Well, it figures that she'd have really cool friends.
-
Of course it figures when you have somebody like that polecat Johnson in the White House.
Fiction book (1991) -
But it figures, doesn't it?
Fiction book (1999) -
Look, if the Queen banished one king for kissin' a dame, it figures she'll do the same thing to Orville.
-
It figures, he thought before drifting off into deeper, dreamless sleep.
Fiction book (1999) -
It figures that I'd find the hat this week, when all of Connecticut is showing their gratitude to the man who put UConn basketball on the map.
Blog text (26) -
Durant has never been an unselfish player and can put up double-digit rebounds whenever he pleases, so it figures that he would eventually get a triple-double.
Blog text (3) -
Given his history of late submissions, it figures that he wouldn't turn in his assignment on time.
Synonyms
1
4.4
Not surprising because the facts make it clear
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
it + figure
The meaning 'that is unsurprising' is related to the verb 'figure' in the sense of 'to be expected' or 'to make sense', so a learner who knows the constituents can partially infer the message. However, the fixed construction with a dummy 'it' and the pragmatic, colloquial use (used to comment that something is unsurprising) is somewhat idiomatic and not fully predictable from the parts, so it is not fully transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
It figures comes from the idea of numbers or a quick calculation. If you add things up and the figures show the expected result, you might say 'it figures', meaning 'not surprising'.