adjective🎓 English idiom

tip-top

in excellent or first-rate condition

What it means

Tip-top describes something in the very best condition or of the highest quality, whether a person's health, a car's performance, or the state of a tidy room. It has a slightly old-fashioned, cheerful ring.

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

Examples

  • The mechanic kept the old car in tip-top shape.
  • She's feeling tip-top after her holiday.
  • Make sure the kitchen is in tip-top condition before inspection.
  • His marathon training has him in tip-top form.

Where it comes from

Recorded from the 1700s, originally meaning the very topmost point and then extended figuratively to the height of quality. The reduplication intensifies the sense of being at the peak.

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.