KK1a Other words meaning very good—for example, food: “That pie was ________.”
KK1b Words meaning ‘in the very best condition’: “His farm is ________.”
KK2 Other words meaning ‘very likeable or popular’: “He’s ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK3a Words for the perfect condition—for example, in cooking: “It’s done to ________.”
KK3b Something done perfectly—for example, a piece of work: “It’s done to ________.”
KK4 When things turn out just right, you might say, “Everything is ________ now.”
KK5 A very skilled or expert person—for example, at woodworking: “He’s a ________.”
KK6 Something low-grade or of poor quality—for example, a piece of merchandise: “I wouldn’t buy that, it’s ________.”
KK7 When wood—for example, a tree stump—is starting to decay inside, you’d say, “It’s ________ inside.”
KK8 Other words for succeeding, especially in spite of difficulty: “He had a hard time, but at last he ________.”
KK9 When someone undertakes something too big for him to handle: “This time you’ve ________.”
KK10 Other words for something failing—for example, a plan: “He didn’t work it out carefully enough, and his plan ________.”
KK11 To make great objections or a big fuss about something: “When we asked him to do that, he ________.”
KK12 A meeting where there’s a lot of talking: “They got together yesterday and had a real ________.”
KK13 Other words for arguing: “They stood there for an hour ________.”
KK14 Something that people disagree about: “I have a ________ to pick with you.”
KK15 A disagreement or quarrel: “They had ________ about where the fence was to be.”
KK16 A great noise or disturbance: “I wish they’d stop making that awful ________.”
KK17 Words and expressions meaning ‘worthless’: “It isn’t worth ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK18 If something is in good running order: “This sewing machine is ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK19 If a machine or appliance is temporarily out of order: “My sewing machine ________.” [Early QRs: If it’s out of order: “My sewing machine is ________.”]
KK20a Something that looks as if it might collapse any minute: “That old shed is certainly ________.”
KK20b Something that looks as if it might collapse any minute: “Our old washing machine is ________.”
KK21 When something hollow is crushed by a heavy weight, or by a fall: “They ran the wagon over the coffee pot and ________.”
KK22 Other ways of saying completely shattered: “The jug fell out of the window and was ________.”
KK23 Weak or unsteady: “I think the footbridge will hold but it is a bit ________.”
KK24 Something that breaks easily: “She broke her arm again: Her bones must be ________.”
KK25 Something that bends or yields easily: “That willow branch is very ________.”
KK26 Something that makes no difference at all to you: “He can think what he likes, it ________ me.”
KK27 A very lively, active old person: “For his age, he’s ________.”
KK28 Feeling ambitious and eager to work:
KK29 To start working very hard: “He was slow at first but now he’s really ________.”
KK30 Feeling slowed up or without energy: “I certainly feel ________.”
KK31 To go about aimlessly looking for distraction: “He doesn’t have anything to do, so he’s just ________ around.”
KK32 Do you use the word ‘busywork’ around here? What does it mean?
KK33 Other ways of saying ‘in succession’: “He had a cold, then the measles, then chicken pox ________.”
KK34 Other expressions meaning very neat and clean: “Her house always looks ________.”
KK35 When someone wants to pass on a compliment about you, in exchange for one about himself, he says, “I have a ________ for you.”
KK36 Talking about a person who is easily fooled: “It’s easy to ________.”
KK37 Words to describe a very sly person: “He’s ________.”
KK38 To put preparations on the hair to hold it close to the head and make it shiny: “I wish he wouldn’t ________ his hair down so!”
KK39 Stirred up, upset: “Because of the storm, the pond was all ________.”
KK40 Other words meaning ‘usually’: “They come twice a month, ________.”
KK41 Something that is very difficult to do: “I managed to get through with it, but it was ________.”
KK42a Expressions about a person who does something very easily: “For him that would be ________.”
KK42b Expressions about a person who does something very easily: “He could do that ________.”
KK43 When the hardest part of a task is finished: “We’ve still a long way to go, but at least we ________.”
KK44 To continue doing something even though it is difficult: “For five winters we’ve ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK45 Other words for a narrow escape: “That time, he really had a ________.”
KK46 Other expressions for taking things as they come and not worrying: “The whole family was sort of ________.”
KK47 Something that is left undecided or unfinished: “Perhaps we’d better just ________.”
KK48 When you work something out as you go, without having a plan or pattern to follow: “I didn’t have anything to go by, so I just did it ________.”
KK49 When you don’t have the time or ambition to do something thoroughly: “I’m not going to give the place a real cleaning, I’ll just ________.”
KK50 When something is planned out carefully, down to the last detail: “He had it all worked out ________.”
KK51 Very plainly or abruptly: “I asked him ________ what he meant by that.”
KK52 To do something in an indirect and complicated way: “I don’t know why he had to go ________ to do that.”
KK53 When one thing suddenly hits hard against something else: “He ran ________ into a car.”
KK54 Just about equal, very close: “They were both fast runners and it was ________ all the way.”
KK54b Just about equal, very close: “It doesn’t matter to me—it’s ________.” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK55a To deny something very firmly: “No, not by a ________.”
KK55b To deny something very firmly: “Would you work for him?” “Not on your ________.”
KK55c Other expressions of strong denial:
KK56 Wood that is heavy from being in water a long time: It’s ________.
KK57 To take a thing up so as to judge its weight: “That suitcase must weigh forty pounds. Just ________ it.”
KK58 An excuse that looks as if it would not stand up under questioning: “His story won’t ________.”
KK59 To have a mistaken idea, or to be quite wrong about something: “If he thinks she’ll help him, he’s ________.”
KK60 Having nothing in particular to do: “I’d just as soon go with you this afternoon—I’m ________ anyway.”
KK61 Food taken alone, with nothing added: “Would you like milk or lemon in your tea?” “No thanks, I’ll take it ________.”
KK62 When you want to make it clear that you will not do something: “I wouldn’t do that for ________.”
KK63 To do a clumsy or hurried job of repairing something: “It will never last—he just ________.”
KK64 Speaking of the part of a city that was once very fine, but isn’t any more: “The neighborhood is sort of ________.”
KK65 Expressions meaning ‘the same sort’: “If you like Bob, I’m sure you’ll like his brother—they’re ________.”
KK66 When you are showing somebody the right way to do something: “No, not like that—do it ________.”
KK67 When people think alike about something: “On that particular thing, we ________.”
KK68 When people don’t think alike about something: “We agree on most things, but on politics we’re ________.”
KK69 What other words do you have for ‘sort’ or ‘kind’? “What ________ rifle is that?” [Asked in early Questionnaires only]
KK70 Something that has got out of proper shape: “That house is all ________.”
DARE Data Summary by Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.