Meanings
- Synonym of what can you do.
“Ah yes,” Lance replied, “this dreadful war. How long must we endure such hardship? Even tea must now be purchased on ration. Tea of all things, mind you. It is most intolerable. Oh well. What is one to do?”
2015, John Strassel, chapter 74, in Exiled to Eden, Denver, Colo.: Outskirts Press, →ISBN, page 8292 more examples
And so an unsuccessful bookseller writes after his shop is closed on a singularly unsatisfactory day. Books that I have bought keep coming in from the publishers and I do not seem to be selling any at all. No wonder that a desperate bookseller turns to desperate remedies. Oh, well! What is one to do?
[1938], [William Darling], “Destroy the Books”, in The Bankrupt Bookseller Speaks Again, Edinburgh; London: Oliver and Boyd, →OCLC, page 212Alex and Shannon, I do so wish I could partake in coffee, but my doctor has hounded me to stop drinking it and so, I am trying to oblige his orders. This herb tea is excellent, but I assure it is no match for a good cup of coffee. Oh, well, what is one to do.
2012, Elizabeth Eagan-Cox, chapter 18, in A Ghost to Die For (Shannon Delaney Paranormal Mystery Series; 5), Cambridge, Md.: Cambridge Books, published February 2013, →ISBN, page 92Synonyms: what can you do
Synonyms & antonyms
phraseSynonym of what can you do.
Cite this entry
what is one to do. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20is%20one%20to%20do
“what is one to do.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20is%20one%20to%20do. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “what is one to do,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/what%20is%20one%20to%20do.
Source: what is one to do on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.