through thick and thin

Cultural  

1. To stay with someone or something “through thick and thin” is to persevere through good times as well as bad: “She stood beside her friend through thick and thin.”

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through thick and thin Idioms  

1. Despite all obstacles or adversities, as in She promised to stand by him through thick and thin. This term alludes to penetrating a forest with both thick and sparse undergrowth. Today it is nearly always used with the idea of supporting something or someone in all circumstances, as in the example. [Late 1300s]

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Example Sentences

It needed supporters who cheered for their team through thick and thin, not curious, casual fans who came out to see whatever big-name player was passing through town but never came back.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026

“China has always stood in solidarity through thick and thin with the Global South, including Latin America and the Caribbean,” said the 6,700-word policy paper, China’s first on the region in almost a decade.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 1, 2026

He said: "Some way or another we kind of stuck together through thick and thin, through the highs and the lows."

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025

I guarantee that the ever-growing, multi-partisan, pro-democracy army keeps working through thick and thin.

From Salon • Jul. 15, 2024

“Myrtle,” he said, “we’ve driven across the Mohave Desert. We’ve been through thick and thin for over three thousand miles and here you are worrying about Shirls Avenue.”

From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz

Related Words

• adamantly
• decisively
• doggedly
• persistently
• resolutely
• staunchly
• steadfastly
• strictly
• stubbornly
• tenaciously