Meanings
- idiomaticEntirely, to all appearances.
[…] not a ha'porth of him left but a goodish piece of his skin, just for all the world like a hedgehog's, and a piece o' old iron furbished up.
1861, Charles Reade, The Cloister and the Hearth2 more examples
[…] Phil offering and giving advice sagely and gravely, for all the world as though he had been old enough to be this young woman's father […]
1885, Catherine Louisa Pirkis, Lady Lovelace[…] the babies looking for all the world as though they had stepped out of pictures by Gian Bellini or by Fra Bartolommeo, that greatest of baby painters.
1917 September 5, Frank Hunter Potter, “Prevention First”, in Alfred Emanuel Smith, editor, New Outlook, page 17
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbunder any circumstances
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
for all the world. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20all%20the%20world
“for all the world.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20all%20the%20world. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “for all the world,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20all%20the%20world.
Source: for all the world on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.