Meanings
alternative best thing since sliced bread · alternative Ireland best thing since sliced pan
- idiomaticSomething amazing, outstanding or praiseworthy, especially a relatively recent invention likely to improve people's lives.
This column is about the greatest thing since sliced bread.
1962 December 19, Jeanne Boardman, “Hints from Heloise”, in St. Joseph Missouri Gazette, page 52 more examples
Because if he starts to write a check for the full amount and I say, “Take off $250”, or “I'll throw in door-guard trim and five steel radials for nothing”, Charley is going to think I am the greatest thing since sliced bread.
1978, Joe Girard, Stanley H. Brown, How to Sell Anything to Anybody, page 104It was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it first came out, and I remember selling a big project to a customer by demonstrating it.
2007, David S. Platt, Why Software Sucks: ...and What You Can Do About It, page 208
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Adapted from the advertising slogan used in 1928 by the Chillicothe Baking Company (the first company to sell sliced bread), which was as follows: The greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَعْظَمُ اخْتِرَاعٍ فِي القَرْن, أَفْضَلُ شَيْءٍ حَدَثَ مُنْذُ زَمَن
- أَعْظَمُ اخْتِرَاعٍ فِي القَرْن (a’zamu ikhtirā’in fī al-qarn)a relatively recent invention
- أَفْضَلُ شَيْءٍ حَدَثَ مُنْذُ زَمَن (ʔafḍalu šayʔin ḥadaṯa munḏu zaman)a relatively recent invention
Chinese Mandarin 破天荒的偉大發明 /破天荒的伟大发明
- 破天荒的偉大發明 /破天荒的伟大发明 (pòtiānhuāng de wěidà fāmíng)a relatively recent invention
French mieux que le fil à couper le beurre
- mieux que le fil à couper le beurrea relatively recent invention
German das Größte seit der Erfindung der Bratkartoffel
- das Größte seit der Erfindung der Bratkartoffela relatively recent invention
Hindi शताब्दी की सबसे महान् आविष्कार
- शताब्दी की सबसे महान् आविष्कार (śatābdī kī sabse mahān āviṣkār)a relatively recent invention
Japanese 今世紀最大の偉業
- 今世紀最大の偉業 (konseiki saidai no igyō)a relatively recent invention
Swedish det bästa sedan skivat bröd
- det bästa sedan skivat bröda relatively recent invention
Cite this entry
greatest thing since sliced bread. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greatest%20thing%20since%20sliced%20bread
“greatest thing since sliced bread.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greatest%20thing%20since%20sliced%20bread. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greatest thing since sliced bread,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greatest%20thing%20since%20sliced%20bread.
Source: greatest thing since sliced bread on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.