before you know it
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You invest that $650, let it compound over time, and before you know it, you’re a multimillionaire retiring by 60.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
"The negative side of mental health comes when it's been ignored and just put to the side. Then before you know it, it's too late. I feel like education is key."
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
"It's hard. Not everyone lives in London, it's a tourist hot spot, and you're trying to follow Google Maps or whatever to know where you're going and before you know it, your phone's gone."
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
“Because before you know it, it’ll be winter, and we’ll want to welcome visitors.”
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 11, 2024
Last month she got a chest cold that turned into a pneumonia, and before you know it she was dead.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
