as they come

English

Adverb

as they come (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) As it is possible to be.

   Synonym: as it gets

   • 1997, Leonard B. Scott, Solemn Duty‎^[1], New York: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 64:

     "Has he got a pulse?"
     "With that hole in his head? You kiddin', a pulse? Give me a break, will ya? He's about as dead as they come.

   • 2001 November 25, Charlie Fletcher, “Has Potter movie magic lost its spell?”, in Scotland on Sunday:

     My eight-year-old, as die-hard a Potterholic as they come, a kid who can probably remember Hogwarts minutiae that even JK has forgotten, walked out of the multiplex and gave it a five out of 10.

   • 2025 August 13, Peter Baker, quoting John Bolton, “Trump’s Affinity for Putin Will Be Tested at High-Risk Summit in Alaska”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     “He wants to get along. He thinks he’s friends with Putin. I don’t think Putin thinks he’s friends with him. Putin’s as coldblooded as they come.”

     (Can we archive this URL?)

Translations

as they come

• Russian: до мозга костей (do mozga kostej), настоящий (nastojaščij), проще некуда (prošče nekuda)

See also

• with the best of them

Further reading

• “as they come”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• haemocytes