all it's cracked up to be

noun

As good as claims or reputation would suggest.

“This expensive software is not all it's cracked up to be. It still has a lot of problems.”

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Meanings

nounall it's cracked up to be (usually negative, typically related to a negative modifier)
  1. idiomaticnegativeusuallyAs good as claims or reputation would suggest.

    This expensive software is not all it's cracked up to be. It still has a lot of problems.

    3 more examples

    Association executives visit one of the world's most glamorous cities and find that it's all it's cracked up to be.

    1977, Meetings and Conventions - Volume 12, page 149

    Love is everything its cracked up to be.

    2015, Heidi Jacobsen, Sunburnt: Life In The Sun

    She thinks the Abbeyfield idea sounds great. Let's hope it's all it's cracked up to be.

    2016, Dorothy Simpson, Once Too Often

Translations

Finnish niin hienoa kuin sanotaan
  • niin hienoa kuin sanotaanas good as claims would suggest
Cite this entry
APA

all it's cracked up to be. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20it's%20cracked%20up%20to%20be

MLA

“all it's cracked up to be.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20it's%20cracked%20up%20to%20be. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “all it's cracked up to be,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/all%20it's%20cracked%20up%20to%20be.

Source: all it's cracked up to be on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.