you could cut it with a knife

Idioms  

1. Alluding to something very thick, such as muggy air or a heavy accent; also, a very tense atmosphere. For example, The smoke was so thick you could cut it with a knife, or When I walked in they all stopped talking and you could cut the air with a knife. [Colloquial; late 1800s]

---

Example Sentences

The smugness, arrogance and hubris in this city is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026

It’s a place that speaks of the good life, where the nostalgia is so thick you could cut it with a knife and butter your Wonder Bread with it.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2025

And the funny thing was, in the scene there’s this underlying aggression between these two characters that is so — you could cut it with a knife.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2023

We’re at the Chutzpah Deli in Fairfax Towne Center and the chutzpah is so thick you could cut it with a knife then smear it on a bagel.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2022

But it was not long before the fog again became so thick that, as the sailors say, you could cut it with a knife.

From The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe, Volume I and Volume II by Leslie, Alexander, fl. 1879-1882