for all the world
Idioms-
In all respects, precisely, as in She looked for all the world like Greta Garbo . [Late 1300s]
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Also, not for the world . Not for anything, not at any price. For example, I wouldn't give up chocolate for all the world , or Not for the world would I reveal your secret . This hyperbolic expression is generally part of a negative statement. [First half of 1800s] For a synonym, see not for love or money .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Two years before Princess Elizabeth became queen, she felt the special sting of having details of her family’s private life splashed out in print for all the world to see.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026
The trap was set and sprung for all the world to see.
From Salon • Mar. 2, 2025
Does each “nepo baby” need to host SNL and do a song and dance routine acknowledging their nepo baby–ness for all the world to see?
From Slate • Jan. 30, 2024
The drawing, virtually abstract, looks for all the world like a mid-1960s Post-minimal rendering by Eva Hesse.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2023
Madoc sits down on the goat-footed stool in front of my dressing table and stretches out his bad leg, looking for all the world as though he’s about to tell me a bedtime story.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
