to a fare-thee-well

Idioms  

1. To the most extreme degree, especially a condition of perfection. For example, We've cleaned the house to a fare-thee-well, or He played the part of martyr to a fare-thee-well. This term first appeared as to a fare-you-well in the late 1800s, and the more archaic-sounding present form replaced it about 1940.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

to a fare-thee-well

He is not sitting at a workbench but at a mahogany table polished to a fare-thee-well and reflecting the sitter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

Think of them as you would your home movies — if those were polled and focus-grouped to a fare-thee-well.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2024

The former is a lovely sentiment, and the latter is disrespectful of their clear boundaries and guilt-trippy to a fare-thee-well, and awareness can make all the difference.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 4, 2023

“Quite frankly, I don’t blame him. At this point, he screwed up Friday to a fare-thee-well, from pen to post, he did that wrong in every way possible,” Stirewalt said.

From Fox News ● Feb. 5, 2019

I'll take it out of Thornton till the laugh he's got now fades to a fare-thee-well; and I'll put you where there aren't any strings tying me up the way there are here.

From The Miracle Man by Frank L. (Frank Lucius) Packard