phrase🎓 English idiom

piece of cake

something very easy

What it means

Used to describe a task that is very easy to do, requiring little effort or skill. It's an informal way of saying something will be no trouble at all.

Words like “piece of cake” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.

Examples

  • Don't worry about the exam, it'll be a piece of cake for you.
  • Fixing the printer was a piece of cake once I read the manual.
  • She thought the hike would be hard, but it was a piece of cake.
  • Compared to last year's project, this one is a piece of cake.

Where it comes from

The phrase dates to the 1930s and likely echoes the older idea of cake as an easily won prize, as in a 'cakewalk', a 19th-century contest where the easiest, most graceful walker won a cake.

Related idioms

🎓 Think you know your idioms?

Take the English Idioms Test — 20 terms, instant result, no signup.

Take the English Idioms Test

Built by the team behind Deep In.