with knobs on

1 9.9

In a much stronger way than usual

idiom

: con mucho más

She didn't just finish the project; she finished it with knobs on.

Examples

The kids' excitement was contagious with knobs on when the circus came to town.
If you think this party is wild, wait for New Year's Eve—it's the same with knobs on.
This party was fun with knobs on!
He loves his new job with knobs on.
The party was exciting with knobs on, featuring live music and dancing all night.
Her enthusiasm for the project was evident with knobs on, as she worked late into the evening.
The new restaurant's menu is delightful with knobs on, offering unique dishes and exotic flavors.

Antonyms

minimal

196 3.3

Very small in amount or degree

understated

23 6.5

Simple and quiet in a way that looks elegant

How Exaggerated

over-the-top

117 5.2

with knobs on

1 9.9

noticeably

28 2.8

plainly

2 1.8

Surface Forms

with knobs on positive

Morphology

with + knobs + on

The sense 'to an exaggerated or enhanced extent' cannot be derived from the literal parts 'with' + 'knobs' + 'on' because the noun 'knobs' (literal handles/controls) does not transparently signal intensification and the construction is colloquial and region-specific. This is an informal British idiom whose overall meaning is idiomatic rather than compositional, so a B1 learner who knows the individual words would unlikely predict the phrase meaning.

Etymology

The idiom with knobs on comes from the picture of adding extra knobs to a plain object so it looks fancier or bigger. So when we say something is done with knobs on, we mean it is done 'much more' or in an exaggerated, extra way.