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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.

And you’d be right: in sketch after sketch, even in a couple that weren’t particularly great, Domingo was solidly in the groove, staying focused but loose throughout the show.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

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

The third quarter started with three punts before quarterbacks Jared Goff and Baker Mayfield, both former number one draft picks, got in the groove.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2024

The muddy river distorted and widened, kept us helpless in the groove of its central channel, pulling and pulling.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

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.