Meaning & use
describe to a tee
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
To describe or match something exactly, so that no detail is wrong.
Grammar: Used after a verb of describing or fitting: it describes you to a tee.
Patterns
- describe someone/something to a tee
- fit someone to a tee
- suit someone to a tee
Her description of my father described him to a tee.
That review of the restaurant described the place to a tee.
The job suits her to a tee.
Common combinations
- describe someone to a tee
- You described my brother to a tee.
- fit someone to a tee
- The old coat fits him to a tee.
- suit someone to a tee
- This quiet village suits my grandmother to a tee.
- match something to a tee
- The photo matches the scene to a tee.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: describe to a tee or to a T? describe to a tee or tee?
describe to a tee vs to a T
The same idiom is very often written 'to a T'; both spellings are accepted and mean exactly the same.
describe to a tee vs tee
The word 'tee' alone is a small stand for a golf ball or a T-shirt; only in this fixed phrase does it mean 'exactly'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase comes after the object: 'described the menu to a tee'. Placing it before the verb (option 2) breaks the fixed order, and 'a tee of' is not part of the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “describe to a tee”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.