Word.ws English Dictionary

all things to all people

all things to all people noun: someone or something that entirely satisfies the expectations of everyone, no matter how diverse and conflicting those expectations may be.

Noun

all things to all people

  1. (idiomatic, often) Someone or something that entirely satisfies the expectations of everyone, no matter how diverse and conflicting those expectations may be.
    • It was obviously his policy to appear all things to all people. He could not venture to take any decided course.1851, Sir John William Kaye, History of the War in Afghanistan, Volume 2, page 382
    • No longer can we be all things to all people! We must decide which path to follow — are we to be physicians assistants, coordinators, supervisors, or skilled practitioners of nursing. The choice is ours!1967, Barbara J. Horn, M.S.N.Ed., Aequanimitas, University of Michigan Medical School, p. 170 (Google preview)

Examples of all things to all people in a sentence

  • Most Poles realize that Solidarity cannot go on being all things to all people: trade union, political party, shaper of the country's future.1990 April 9, Paul Gray, “Grapevine: Lech Walesa and Tadeusz Mazowiecki”, in Time, retrieved 21 Feb 2017:
  • Clinton is often accused of wanting to be all things to all people, but that is a classic occupational hazard of his job.1995 January 29, Todd S. Purdum, “The Nation: Underwear and All; Dignifying the Presidency”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Feb 2017:
  • "There's also a problem about schools being expected to be all things to all people."2005 February 26, Joanna Moorhead, “Why not leave school at 16?”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 21 Feb 2017:

Synonyms of all things to all people

Origin of all things to all people

From Holy Bible (King James Version), 1 Corinthians 9:22: "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

Questions about all things to all people

What does all things to all people mean?
All things to all people means someone or something that entirely satisfies the expectations of everyone, no matter how diverse and conflicting those expectations may be.
How do you use all things to all people in a sentence?
Most Poles realize that Solidarity cannot go on being all things to all people: trade union, political party, shaper of the country's future.
What part of speech is all things to all people?
All things to all people is a noun.

Words near all things to all people in the dictionary

  1. all things
  2. all things being equal
  3. all things come to those who wait
  4. all things considered
  5. all things to all men
  6. all things to all people
  7. all thumbs
  8. all to
  9. all to one
  10. all to smash
  11. all to the better

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: all things to all people (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-all things to all people.ogg.

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