Meanings
- informalnot comparablecool, trendy
Too many students learn another discrimination, between school and the "real world." That discrimination is the source of the concern for relevance. When a student concludes that education is not "where it's at," he is ready to drop out physically or turn off psychologically.
1973, Performance objectives in education, Educational Technology Publications, Incorporated1 more example
5 March 2012, Daily Telegraph, Stockholm: on the trail of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoohttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/9111563/Stockholm-on-the-trail-of-the-Girl-with-the-Dragon-Tattoo.html In fact, for armchair sleuths, Scandinavia — where waterfronts swiftly segue into gritty, albeit imagination-based, crime scenes — is where it's at.
- informalnot comparabletrue, truthful
You say I let you down, you know it's not like that. If you're so hurt why then don't you show it? You say you lost your faith but that's not where it's at. You have no faith to lose and you know it.
1965, Bob Dylan, “Positively 4th Street”
Cite this entry
where it's at. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20it's%20at
“where it's at.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20it's%20at. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “where it's at,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/where%20it's%20at.
Source: where it's at on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.