so-and-so
Americannoun
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so-and-sos
plural
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someone or something not definitely named.
to gossip about so-and-so.
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a bastard; son of a bitch (used as a euphemism).
Tell the old so-and-so to mind his own business.
noun
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a person whose name is forgotten or ignored
so-and-so came to see me
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euphemistic a person or thing regarded as unpleasant or difficult
which so-and-so broke my razor?
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of so-and-so
First recorded in 1590–1600
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.
See Examples For:
You know the thinking: If so-and-so power broker is also in the room, why should I worry?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Once you hit submit, they’ll get back to you saying, “Please show up to so-and-so garage with all your documents that are being requested on that day.”
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
“I went from so-and-so to so-and-so, trying out studios, making promises I couldn’t keep. But all that stuff over the weeks just kind of flaked away.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
"I've never been on holiday without bumping into a Welsh person and then after about half a minute you're like, 'well do you know so-and-so if you're from Merthyr?' and they always do."
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2025
All I’ve been hearing today is: “If this and that happens, we’re in trouble, and if so-and-so gets sick, we’ll be left to fend for ourselves, and if...”
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
Hoover’s men are smug, citified so-and-sos in trim suits who set great store by fancy crime-fighting techniques like fingerprint analysis, wiretaps, two-way radios and aerial surveillance.
From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2019
Around New York City, it seemed, there was a tiny enclave of impassioned, well-fed so-and-sos who had all gone mad for this will-o’-the-wisp of a savory.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2011
If you're going to indict this long line of greedy so-and-sos for causing financial crashes, you also have to credit them with all the intervening periods of prosperity.
From BusinessWeek ● Jul. 20, 2010
They say the image of public servants in parts of the media as "lazy, idle so-and-sos, on massive wages" is unfair.
From The Guardian ● May 22, 2010
Oh, Space and Time did one of those unimitigated so-and-sos, my dear classmates, leave M'Clare's communicator on?
From The Lost Kafoozalum by Pauline Ashwell
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.
