read like a book
read like a book verb: to be able to discern someone's thoughts from their body language or other behavior, especially in great detail and with little effort.
Verb
read like a book (third-person singular simple present reads like a book, present participle reading like a book, simple past and past participle read like a book)
- To be able to discern someone's thoughts from their body language or other behavior, especially in great detail and with little effort.
- I love playing poker against Maria because I can read her like a book.
Forms of read like a book
| third-person singular present | reads like a book |
|---|---|
| present participle | reading like a book |
| past participle | read like a book |
| past | read like a book |
| alternative form | read like an open book |
Questions about read like a book
- What does read like a book mean?
- Read like a book means to be able to discern someone's thoughts from their body language or other behavior, especially in great detail and with little effort.
- What part of speech is read like a book?
- Read like a book is a verb.
- What is the past tense of read like a book?
- The past tense of read like a book is read like a book.
Words near read like a book in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: read like a book (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-read like a book.ogg.
Cite this entry: “read like a book.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/read_like_a_book. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.