Meaning & use
world is your oyster
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Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Used to say that someone has many opportunities and can do or go anywhere they wish.
Grammar: Fixed phrase; only the possessive changes: the world is his oyster, the world is their oyster.
Patterns
- the world is your oyster
- the world is someone's oyster
With a degree and no debts, the world is your oyster.
She's twenty-two and traveling alone; the world is her oyster.
When you're young and free, the world is your oyster.
Common combinations
- the world is your oyster
- With your talent, the world is your oyster.
- the world is his oyster
- After winning the prize, the world was his oyster.
- the world is their oyster
- For the new graduates, the world is their oyster.
- feel the world is your oyster
- At eighteen, you feel the world is your oyster.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sky's the limit
- The sky's the limit stresses that there is no upper boundary, while the world is your oyster stresses wide choice and opportunity.
- open doors
- Open doors is plainer and talks about specific chances, not total freedom.
- free to roam
- Free to roam suggests freedom of movement, not opportunity.
- anything is possible
- Anything is possible is more general and works for any situation, while the world is your oyster is about personal opportunities.
Opposites
Word family
- oyster noun
- a shellfish that can contain a pearl
- oysters noun
- plural form
- oyster bar noun
- a restaurant that sells oysters
Commonly confused: world is your oyster or the oyster card?
world is your oyster vs the oyster card
An Oyster card is a London transport card, with no connection to the idiom.
Practice
The careers adviser told the graduates, "With your skills, the world is your ___."
Choose one answer.
The idiom is the world is your oyster, meaning you have many opportunities. The other nouns do not complete the fixed expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “world is your oyster”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.