be-all and end-all

be-all and end-all noun: something considered to be of the utmost importance; something essential or ultimate.

Noun

be-all and end-all (plural be-alls and end-alls)

(idiomatic) Something considered to be of the utmost importance; something essential or ultimate.
- He thought that cars were the be-all and end-all of life.
- Profit is the be-all and end-all of business.

The compulsory tests in reading, writing and maths at the end of years 2 and 6 are often mistakenly seen as the be-all and end-all of a child's chances in life, and the quality of their school.2014 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:
Back in the day, pore strips were the be-all and end-all for removing blackheads and buildup around the nose.2025 April 23, Julia A. Siegel, MD, “12 Methods to Unclog Pores That Dermatologists Swear By”, in Byrdie:

What does be-all and end-all mean?: Be-all and end-all means something considered to be of the utmost importance; something essential or ultimate.
How do you use be-all and end-all in a sentence?: The compulsory tests in reading, writing and maths at the end of years 2 and 6 are often mistakenly seen as the be-all and end-all of a child's chances in life, and the quality of their school.
What part of speech is be-all and end-all?: Be-all and end-all is a noun.
What is the plural of be-all and end-all?: The plural of be-all and end-all is be-alls and end-alls.

Adapted from Wiktionary: be-all and end-all (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-be-all and end-all.ogg.

Cite this entry: “be-all and end-all.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/be-all_and_end-all. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.