fun with knobs on - Glite Dictionary

Examples

The festival promises fun with knobs on for the whole family.
That party was fun with knobs on!
If you think this event will be dull, you're in for fun with knobs on!
The concert last night was fun with knobs on.
If you think this event will be dull, you're in for fun with knobs on!
Last night’s concert was fun with knobs on from start to finish.
The festival promises fun with knobs on for the whole family.

Synonyms

fun

vsfun with knobs on

∞ 1.0

Causing people to have a good time

adds strong emphasis to say something is much more than simply enjoyable

so much fun

vsfun with knobs on

180 1.0

A very enjoyable time that makes you feel happy

stresses an even stronger level of enjoyment beyond just being very pleasurable

most fun

vsfun with knobs on

Informal

31 4.0

Giving the most enjoyment

is more straightforward emphasis on extreme enjoyment rather than playful joking

dokey

vsfun with knobs on

Slang

1 9.9

Fun and exciting to do or watch

is an emphatic possibly more theatrical expression rather than casual slang

fun to the max

vsfun with knobs on

Informal

8.3

A very enjoyable and exciting time for everyone

is a general emphatic expression rather than claiming topmost enjoyment

zingingly fun

vsfun with knobs on

Informal

8.7

Full of lively, exciting fun, like a great party or game

emphasizes extreme enjoyment without focusing on lively energetic qualities

Antonyms

boring

721 1.0

Not interesting and making you feel tired or impatient

dull

182 1.3

Not interesting or lively

How Fun

fun with knobs on

UK

9.9

riot

Informal

33 4.9

blast

Informal

87 3.6

fun

∞ 1.0

pleasant

314 1.0

Surface Forms

fun with knobs on main

Morphology

fun + with + knobs + on

This is an informal, chiefly British intensifying idiom where 'with knobs on' does not have a compositional relation to the literal words 'knobs' and 'on'. A learner who knows 'fun', 'with', 'knobs' and 'on' would not reliably infer the meaning 'extremely fun' because the phrase functions as an unpredictable intensifier rather than a literal description; its usage and form are idiomatic and regionally specific.

Etymology

Fun with knobs on may come from the image of making something ordinary much bigger or louder by adding knobs, like extra buttons or dials. Imagine a plain radio that becomes wild and exciting when you add lots of knobs, so the phrase means 'extremely fun'.