Word.ws English Dictionary

full of beans

full of beans adjective: energetic and enthusiastic.

Adjective (1)

full of beans (comparative more full of beans, superlative most full of beans)

  1. (idiomatic) Energetic and enthusiastic.
    • "What do you mean by the expression 'Bucks you up'?"
      "Well, makes you full of beans, you know. Makes you fizz."
      "I don't understand a word you say. You're English, aren't you?"1919, P. G. Wodehouse, “The Aunt and the Sluggard”, in My Man Jeeves
    • Irwin's friend Chris White reflected on a friendship that began in 1975. . . . "Full of beans, full of life, gung-ho, fearless, tenacious at anything he attempted."2006 September 6, Karen Thomas, Lindsey Arkley, “World mourns 'Crocodile Hunter'”, in USA Today, retrieved 06 Nov 2008

Adjective (2)

full of beans (comparative more full of beans, superlative most full of beans)

  1. (US, idiomatic) Incorrect; uninformed; exaggerating or expressing falsehood.
    • Anybody who tells you that they know what today's readers want is full of beans.2008 March 31, David Carr, “Talk to the Newsroom: David Carr, Culture Reporter and Business Columnist”, in New York Times, retrieved 06 Nov 2008
    • McCain says he can save $100 billion in earmarks, but he's full of beans.2008, Paul Begala, Third Term: Why George W. Bush ♥ John McCain, page 73
    Synonyms:
    full of shit

full of beans meaning in Tamil and Bengali

full of beans in Tamil

பேரார்வம்

full of beans in Bengali

উদ্যমী এবং উৎসাহী, ভুল, অজ্ঞ, অতিরঞ্জিত, মিথ্যা প্রকাশকারী

Synonyms of full of beans

Forms of full of beans

comparativemore full of beans
superlativemost full of beans

Origin of full of beans

Attested since the 1840s. Possibly a reference to coffee beans. Attributed to Robert Strang.

Attested since the 1930s. A euphemistic form of full of shit.

Questions about full of beans

What does full of beans mean?
Full of beans means energetic and enthusiastic.
What is full of beans in Tamil?
Full of beans in Tamil is பேரார்வம். See Full of beans meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is full of beans?
Full of beans is an adjective.

Words near full of beans in the dictionary

  1. full nelson
  2. full nelsons
  3. full nest syndrome
  4. full nester
  5. full of
  6. full of beans
  7. full of bread
  8. full of crap
  9. full of hot air
  10. full of it
  11. full of one's self

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: full of beans (page history and authors); full of beans (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); full of beans (Bengali Wiktionary) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-full of beans.ogg.

Cite this entry: “full of beans.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/full_of_beans. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.