be-all and end-all

1. 1.

   the essential factor; the all-important element; the supreme aim

   “profit is the be-all and end-all of business”

   Synonymsbe all and end all

   Broadercomponent

Questions about be-all and end-all

What does be-all and end-all mean?

be-all and end-all means "the essential factor; the all-important element; the supreme aim".

What is another word for be-all and end-all?

Close synonyms include be all and end all. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is be-all and end-all a common word?

be-all and end-all is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.