Word.ws English Dictionary

in the weeds

in the weeds prepositional phrase: immersed or entangled in details or complexities.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (figuratively, informal) Immersed or entangled in details or complexities.
    • to get lost in the weeds
    • It was in a series of such back-and-forth sessions that Rumsfeld crafted the war on Iraq. […] [G]enerals were alarmed to see a Defense Secretary get so far down in the weeds of a military operation.2003 December 29, Michael Duffy, Mark Thompson, “Secretary of war”, in CNN, retrieved 21 Sep 2013
  2. (restaurant slang, bartender) Overwhelmed with diners' orders.
    • Anger may be the only recourse when you're "in the weeds," as chefs call the nightmare of not being ready when orders pour in and you fall behind and can't see a way out.1998 June 24, Eric Asimov, “The First Job: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, retrieved 21 Sep 2013
    • She saw that she was in the weeds on every front. There were unanswered phone messages from a food writer at the Times, from an editor at Gourmet, and from the latest restaurateur hoping to steal Brian’s chef.2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections, →ISBN, page 416
    Synonyms:
    in over one's head
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see in, the, weeds.
    • Sometimes, while she rooted around in the weeds to place her camera, the meadow resisted—thorns scratched her arm and insects bit her fingers.2021 March 13, Sabrina Imbler, “A Bug’s Life”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN

Examples of in the weeds in a sentence

  • In order to ban prop trading, you first have to define it, and when you try, you are immediately in the weeds.2012 May 19, Stephen Foley, “Business: Jamie Dimon has become Exhibit A in the case for regulation”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 21...
  • For readers who may be concerned about getting lost in the weeds, don’t worry.2016 September 26, John Abraham, “The Madhouse Effect of climate denial”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
  • […] many today will recognise in it the tendency of the left to prioritise ideological purity over concrete action, get lost in the weeds of theory and language, and ultimately turn on itself.2022 September 15, Melissa Harrison, “Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vásquez review – Mao, movies and me”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
  • She took on way too much work in the kitchen and didn't know when to say when. […] Like one of the judges said, "No matter how great a chef you are, once you get in the weeds, it's over."2009 October 22, “'Top Chef' Las Vegas Power Rankings: 'Restaurant Wars'”, in starpulse.com, retrieved 21 Sep 2013:

Synonyms of in the weeds

  • in over one's head

Origin of in the weeds

Green's suggests an image or expression from golfing of US origin, from the difficulty of playing when the golf ball gets stuck in the weeds.

Questions about in the weeds

What does in the weeds mean?
In the weeds means immersed or entangled in details or complexities.
How do you use in the weeds in a sentence?
In order to ban prop trading, you first have to define it, and when you try, you are immediately in the weeds.
What part of speech is in the weeds?
In the weeds is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the weeds in the dictionary

  1. in the vein of
  2. in the wake of
  3. in the wars
  4. in the way
  5. in the way of
  6. in the weeds
  7. in the wild
  8. in the wind
  9. in the wind's eye
  10. in the wink of an eye
  11. in the works

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the weeds (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-in the weeds.ogg.

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