Word.ws English Dictionary

the world and his wife

the world and his wife noun: everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people.

Noun

the world and his wife pl (plural only)

  1. (Australia, UK, excessive, plural, plural-only) Everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people.
    • The world and his wife were at the opening – we could barely move.
    • The world and his wife are the customers for whom the textile industry supplies the greatest necessity next to food, and some of the greatest luxuries.1957 July 4, General Secretary, The Textile Institute, A Guide to Careers: No. 32: Textile Technology, New Scientist, page 42

Examples of the world and his wife in a sentence

  • The punk explosion of 1977 prompted the world and his wife to pick up guitars, just as they had grabbed washboards in the skiffle era 20 years before.1986 April, Jessica Berens, “Scots on the Rocks”, in Spin, page 29:
  • “Why not just hire a crier to go around the city, telling all the world and his wife — all the world and our wives — we had our turns riding Connie to hounds?”1998, Kasey Michaels, Indiscreet, published 2000, page 229:

Synonyms of the world and his wife

Forms of the world and his wife

alternative formall the world and his wife

Questions about the world and his wife

What does the world and his wife mean?
The world and his wife means everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people.
How do you use the world and his wife in a sentence?
The punk explosion of 1977 prompted the world and his wife to pick up guitars, just as they had grabbed washboards in the skiffle era 20 years before.
What part of speech is the world and his wife?
The world and his wife is a noun.

Words near the world and his wife in the dictionary

  1. the whole world and his dog
  2. the winner takes it all
  3. the wolf is at the door
  4. the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature
  5. the word is go
  6. the world and his wife
  7. the world is one's lobster
  8. the world is someone's oyster
  9. the world is too much with someone
  10. the world kept spinning
  11. the world over

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the world and his wife (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-the world and his wife.ogg.

Cite this entry: “the world and his wife.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_world_and_his_wife. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.