getting back to basics

Meaning

1. 1phraseidiom

   Returning to the simple, most important methods or ideas after a period of doing things in a complicated way.

   Grammar: Used as a noun-like phrase: it can be the subject or follow 'about' or 'start'.

   Patterns

   • getting back to basics
   • start getting back to basics
   • it's about getting back to basics

   After trying every fancy new app, the team is getting back to basics and just talking to customers.

   Her new cookbook is all about getting back to basics: flour, butter, eggs, and nothing else.

   The coach said getting back to basics was the only way to fix the team's defense.

Word forms

Common combinations

getting back to basics

Getting back to basics helped the company survive the slow year.

start getting back to basics

We should start getting back to basics before we spend more money.

a return to basics

The new manager promised a return to basics.

all about getting back to basics

This whole project is all about getting back to basics.

Synonyms and how they differ

returning to first principles

More formal and academic; it suggests reasoning from basic rules rather than simply simplifying.

simplifying

Focuses on making something less complex, but it does not carry the idea of going back to an earlier, better way.

Opposites

Word family

basics noun

The simple, most necessary things or skills in a subject.

basic adjective

Simple and at the most necessary level.

basically adverb

Used to say something in the simplest, most general way.

Commonly confused: getting back to basics or back to the drawing board?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “getting back to basics”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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