hit the fan

verb

To have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.

“Then the shit really hit the fan.”

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Meanings

verbhit the fan (third-person singular simple present hits the fan, present participle hitting the fan, simple past and past participle hit the fan)

present singular third person hits the fan · participle present hitting the fan

  1. idiomaticintransitiveTo have a dramatic, usually negative, effect.

    Then the shit really hit the fan.

    3 more examples

    They were just clowning around, when suddenly it all hit the fan.

    When you're a Jet, if the spit hits the fan / You got brothers around, you're a family man

    1957, Stephen Sondheim, “Jet Song”, in West Side Story

    Let me ask you, Congressman, the case of a lot of these corporate scandals, I followed enough of them to know how -- how it works out. Once everything starts hitting the fan, the CEO, the chairman or maybe a large share of the board of directors simply leaves, resigns

    2004 December 2, Neil Cavuto, “Interview With Jeff Flake”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
lose one's mind

Origin

Uncertain. Possibly derived from an old joke: A man in a crowded bar needed to defecate but couldn't find a bathroom, so he went upstairs and used a hole in the floor. Returning, he found everyone had gone except the bartender, who was cowering behind the bar. When the man asked what had happened, the bartender replied, 'Where were you when the shit hit the fan?' Other possible sources include American or Canadian military slang or agricultural manure spreaders.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hit the fan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20fan

MLA

“hit the fan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20fan. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hit the fan,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hit%20the%20fan.

Source: hit the fan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.