as anything

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

as anything

1. (simile) To a great degree or extent; very.

   Synonyms: as all hell, as hell

   • 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Dartmoor”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 122:

     He went over to Nuncombe Putney, as sure as anything;—hired Mrs. Clegg's chaise and pair, and asked for Mrs Trevelyan's house as open as anything.

   • 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “The Delights of Anticipation”, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909 (11th printing), →OCLC, page 130:

     The heroine had five lovers. I'd be satisfied with one, wouldn't you? She was very handsome and she went through great tribulations. She could faint as easy as anything. I'd love to be able to faint, wouldn't you, Marilla? It's so romantic.

   • 1998, Maeve Binchy, Tara Road, Dell, →ISBN, page 260:

     [...] he'll be as sorry as anything, he'll put it right.

May also be used in conjunction with a prepositive as; for example, as mean as anything.

• syngnathia