cut-and-dried
- adjective
- /ˈkʌt ənd draɪd/
- The rules for the competition are very cut-and-dried, leaving no room for interpretation.
- cut-and-dried case
- cut-and-dried situation
- pretty cut-and-dried
Now, granted, I think certain things are more cut and dry.
- Now, granted, I think certain things are more cut and dry.
- And everything that it understands is clear, explicit, cut and dried.
- And the answer is nobody actually has a cut and dried way of doing this that everybody agrees with.
Examples
-
I thought it was pretty cut and dried, but it isn't at all.
Blog text (18) -
But this situation here is not so cut and dried.
Blog text (30) -
Okay, that seems pretty cut and dried.
-
But is this so cut and dried?
Academic text (2001) -
Well, yes, it is as cut and dried as that.
Blog text (23) -
But baseball is never so cut and dried as that.
Blog text (22) -
Mary, look, things aren't always so cut and dried as you are trying to make them out to be.
Blog text (27) -
The case was so cut and dried that even Uncle Myron, the world's worst lawyer, could get a conviction.
Fiction book (1994) -
If it's pretty cut-and-dried under the law, don't gripe about countries enforcing laws.
Blog text (11) -
Otherwise, we have a cut-and-dried case, and Hall's paycheck is anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 lighter.
Blog text (24)
Synonyms
Simple and not decorated or flavored
Easy to see and understand
Very clear rules or limits that do not allow change
Not original and very similar to many others
Clear and simple, not likely to change
With sharp edges and clear lines
Simple and plain with no extra things or decorations
Antonyms
How Clear
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Cut-and-dried comes from the way people cut and dry herbs so they are cut and dried and kept 'ready to use'. So a cut-and-dried idea or plan is 'settled', 'predictable', and not open to 'change'.