Meanings
- Synonym of it is what it is.
I did, for a while, but haven’t seen any of them for over a year or so now, I don’t think. / Oh. That’s a shame. That’s not good. / Well, it is how it is. How about you? Do you ever see them?
2016 July 28, Dan Micklethwaite, chapter 16, in The Less Than Perfect Legend of Donna Creosote, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire: Bluemoose Books, →ISBN, page 712 more examples
“[…] I mean the Dark Lord’s something I’ve heard before, I think. It sounds so…” Alex smiled, “mythical.” / Nikolas relaxed. “Oh...” he laughed it off. “Yes, well, it is how it is.”
2013, Delson Armstrong, “Calmness”, in The Elemental King (Red Serpent; 3), New York, N.Y.: 9ine, →ISBN, page 176“I came to see Aled.” / “I wasn’t aware you still cared for any member of your family.” / “Only the good ones,” said Carys through gritted teeth. / Carol raised an eyebrow. “Well, it is how it is. I’m not here to see you and, frankly, I don’t want to. I want to talk to my real child.”
2016 February 25, Alice Oseman, “On Your Own”, in Radio Silence (Osemanverse; 9), London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 377Synonyms: it is what it is
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseSynonym of it is what it is.
Cite this entry
it is how it is. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20is%20how%20it%20is
“it is how it is.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20is%20how%20it%20is. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “it is how it is,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20is%20how%20it%20is.
Source: it is how it is on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.