Word.ws English Dictionary

what is what

what is what is the alternative form of what's what.

Meaning of what's what

Noun

what's what (uncountable)

  1. (idiomatic) Precisely what the situation really is or what the facts truly are; the true state of things.
    • Besides, he had some qualities which fix
      Middle-aged ladies even more than young:
      The former know what's what; while new-fledged chicks
      Know little more of Love than what is sung
      In rhymes . . .1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Tenth

Questions about what is what

What is what is what the alternative form of?
What is what is the alternative form of what's what.

Words near what is what in the dictionary

  1. what is the time
  2. what is the Wi-Fi password
  3. what is their name
  4. what is this I don't even
  5. what is up
  6. what is what
  7. what is worse
  8. what is your job
  9. what is your name
  10. what is your phone number
  11. what is your problem

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: what is what (page history and authors); what's what (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:

Cite this entry: “what is what.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/what_is_what. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.