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]

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Example Sentences

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

Not just because of the July’s battering that depleted their numbers so much, but because the Conservatives have been in the groove of attacking each other for many years now.

From BBC • Nov. 2, 2024

“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

Stopping, he saw that one of the bicycle tires had lodged in the groove of a streetcar track.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Related Words

• adaptable
• appropriate
• consistent
• suitable