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Synonyms

in the groove

Idioms  

  1. Performing very well, excellent; also, in fashion, up-to-date. For example, The band was slowly getting in the groove, or To be in the groove this year you'll have to get a fake fur coat. This idiom originally alluded to running accurately in a channel, or groove. It was taken up by jazz musicians in the 1920s and later began to be used more loosely. A variant, back in the groove, means “returning to one's old self,” as in He was very ill but now he's back in the groove. [Slang; mid-1800s]

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.

Try to keep your email and messaging apps shut off until at least noon, so you get in the groove of your own work before checking for anything urgent.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

"It's more just trying to get back in the groove," Tinch said.

From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026

“Six months ago while we were camping in Utah I was on my quad and I flipped it. I was in a brace for three months but I’m back in the groove now.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 29, 2024

Rangers began with the assured air of a team in the groove, Fabio Silva had an early shot deflected wide before Connor Goldson's thunderous header was beaten clear by Will Dennis.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2024

One day, I was shooting my fourth set of one hundred shots and I was really in the groove.

From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman

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.