phrase🎓 English idiom

through thick and thin

in good times and bad

What it means

Through both good times and bad, no matter what difficulties arise. It describes steadfast loyalty or perseverance that continues despite every obstacle.

Examples

  • They stayed married through thick and thin for fifty years.
  • She supported the team through thick and thin, win or lose.
  • True friends stand by you through thick and thin.
  • The family stuck together through thick and thin during the hard years.

Where it comes from

The phrase dates to the Middle Ages and originally meant travelling through 'thicket and thin wood', that is, through every kind of terrain. It came to mean enduring through all circumstances.

Related idioms

#in the same boat#like two peas in a pod#keep your chin up#bend over backwards

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