get one's kicks

verb

To enjoy oneself, to have a good time.

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Meanings

verbget one's kicks (third-person singular simple present gets one's kicks, present participle getting one's kicks, simple past got one's kicks, past participle (UK) got one's kicks or (US) gotten one's kicks)

present singular third person gets one's kicks · participle present getting one's kicks · past got one's kicks · UK participle past got one's kicks · US participle past gotten one's kicks

  1. idiomaticinformalTo enjoy oneself, to have a good time.

    Anita's gonna get her kicks tonight / We'll have our private little mix tonight

    1957, Stephen Sondheim, “Tonight (Quintet)”, in West Side Story
    2 more examples

    Well, if you ever plan to motor west / Jack, take my way, it's the highway that's the best / Get your kicks on Route 66

    1946 April 22, Bobby Troup, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”, in New Juke Box Hits, performed by Chuck Berry, published March 1961, side 2, track 2

    “Fine, fine, we lushing it up.” “That ain’t nowhere. Blast Little Eva with some pot. Let her get her kicks.” “I’ll see to it that she gets her kicks,” he said.

    1962, James Baldwin, Another Country, New York, N. Y.: The Dial Press, published January 1963, page 18

Origin

From kick (“pleasure, thrill”). Compare get a kick out of.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

get one's kicks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20kicks

MLA

“get one's kicks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20kicks. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get one's kicks,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20kicks.

Source: get one's kicks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.