to a fare-thee-well

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Prepositional phrase[edit]

to a fare-thee-well

  1. (idiomatic) To the greatest extent or to completion; to a state of refinement or perfection.
    • 1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “(please specify the page)”, in Tales of the Jazz Age, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
      "She's all dolled up to a fare-you-well to-night," continued Clark.
    • 1961, Geoffrey Edsall, “The Future of Immunization”, in Public Health Reports, volume 76, number 9, page 816:
      It will do little for the future of immunization to prepare excellent vaccines, test them to a fare-thee-well for safety and efficacy, and then not insure that they are adequately used.
    • 2007, Steve Forbes, Fact and Comment: Unindicted Blunderer, Forbes, 17 Sep.,
      Market participants are painfully learning the limits to slicing and dicing mortgages to a fine fare-thee-well.

Related terms[edit]