Word.ws English Dictionary

that's the thing

that's the thing phrase: used to seize on a point and highlight its comparative importance, especially as a refutation or negation to a statement made by another speaker.

Phrase

that's the thing

  1. (colloquial, idiomatic) Used to seize on a point and highlight its comparative importance, especially as a refutation or negation to a statement made by another speaker.
    • But that's the thing, see? Like you said, you can't just go spending your money like that.

Questions about that's the thing

What does that's the thing mean?
That's the thing means used to seize on a point and highlight its comparative importance, especially as a refutation or negation to a statement made by another speaker.
What part of speech is that's the thing?
That's the thing is a phrase.

Words near that's the thing in the dictionary

  1. that's that
  2. that's that on that
  3. that's the bunny
  4. that's the spirit
  5. that's the stuff
  6. that's the thing
  7. that's the ticket
  8. that's the ticket for soup
  9. that's the tip
  10. that's the way it goes
  11. that's the way life is

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: that's the thing (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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