Meaning & use
end-all-be-all
Last updated
UK/ˌend ɔːl biː ˈɔːl/
US/ˌend ɔːl bi ˈɔːl/
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
The thing that is the most important or final, and beyond which nothing else matters.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase with the; usually with a negative: not the end-all-be-all.
Patterns
- the end-all and be-all of something
- not the end-all-be-all
A college degree isn't the end-all-be-all of success.
For him, winning was the end-all-be-all.
Money is not the end-all-be-all in a career.
Common combinations
- not the end-all-be-all
- One test is not the end-all-be-all.
- the end-all and be-all
- She saw work as the end-all and be-all.
- end-all-be-all solution
- There is no end-all-be-all solution.
- think it's the end-all
- Don't think this job is the end-all.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ultimate goal
- Neutral and says what you aim for, with no hint of overvaluing.
- be-all and end-all
- The British form of the same idiom.
- supreme thing
- Means the most important, without the idiom's warning tone.
Commonly confused: end-all-be-all or be-all and end-all?
end-all-be-all vs be-all and end-all
The traditional wording; the American variant is end-all-be-all.
Practice
Getting into a top university is important, but it is not the ___ of life.
Choose one answer.
End-all-be-all means the one thing that matters most. Make-or-break describes a decisive moment, not the most important thing.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “end-all-be-all”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.