Word.ws English Dictionary

in spades

UK/ɪn ˈspeɪds/

in spades prepositional phrase: in large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint.

in spades: in large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint
Image: Oka21000, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint.
    • Last year we harvested almost no potatoes, but this year we're getting them in spades.
    • "He is three times that bad in spades," I said. "He ain't washed his socks in four months for one thing," […]1954, Richard [Pike] Bissell, High Water (Atlantic Monthly Press Book), Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 760577; republished St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987, ISBN...
  2. (idiomatic) Beyond doubt.

Synonyms of in spades

Origin of in spades

From the card game of bridge, in which spades is the highest suit. Perhaps influenced by phrases with similar meaning, in spadefuls or in spate.

Questions about in spades

What does in spades mean?
In spades means in large quantities; to a high degree; to excess, without restraint.
What part of speech is in spades?
In spades is a prepositional phrase.
How do you pronounce in spades?
In spades is pronounced /ɪn ˈspeɪds/ (UK).

Words near in spades in the dictionary

  1. in someone's way
  2. in something's favor
  3. in something's way
  4. in sooth
  5. in sort
  6. in spades
  7. in special
  8. in specie
  9. in spirit
  10. in spite of
  11. in spite of oneself

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in spades (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-in spades.ogg.

Cite this entry: “in spades.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/in_spades. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.