Meanings
- predicativeThe desired thing: someone or something that is popularly favored.
Brewfest needs to become the thing at Rutgers.
2018 September 30, Steve Politi, “A Rutgers fan's secret to survival: Beer. Lots and lots of beer.”, nj.com3 more examples
He liked Tom all right. […] Sampson and Bullock he could do without, however. Especially Sampson, who was too much of a grammar-school-type swot ever to be quite the thing.
1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 16“When did money become the thing — the only thing?” Ms. Lim’s character asks in the opening monologue.
2017 November 2, Ben Brantley, “Review: ‘Junk’ Revives a Go-Go Era of Debt and Duplicity”, in The New York Times"I'm a little confused why she's the thing,” McCaskill told CNN.
2018 December 26, Avery Anapol (quoting Claire McCaskill), “McCaskill on Ocasio-Cortez: ‘I’m a little confused why she’s the thing’”, The Hill
Synonyms & antonyms
Cite this entry
the thing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20thing
“the thing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20thing. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the thing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20thing.
Source: the thing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.