Phrase guide

a dime a dozen

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

So common as to be practically or almost worthless.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, US, idiomatic

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: not worth a dime; see also Thesaurus:worthless
  • People with your skills are a dime a dozen these days.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ten a penny, average, basic, bog-standard, common, common as bums, common as dirt, common as muck, common as pig tracks, dime a dozen, everyday, frequent, general, habitual, nonrare, par for the course, pedestrian, plain, quotidian, regular, routinary, routine, two a penny, usual, workaday, not worth a dime, bastardly, blown, cacky, chaffy, cocking, crapalicious, cruddy, cullionly, draffish, draffy, dreckish, drecky, duffing, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, for the birds, fucking, garbagey, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, goodless, ineffectual, invaluable, jabberwocky, junky, mouldy, mucid, naughty, no-account, no good / no-good, nonvaluable, not worth a damn, not worth a plug nickel, not worth a brass farthing, not worth a cent, not worth a cress, not worth a curse, not worth a Continental, not worth a farthing, not worth hell room, not worth a nickel, not worth a penny, not worth salt, not worth a whistle, nought, of no value, pissass, punk, putid, rubbishly, rubbishy, sixpenny, scabbed, screwy, scummy, shand, shit, shitey, shitstained, shitty-ass, sorry-ass, strawlike, suckworthy, tenth-rate, toshy, trinkety, triobolar, tripy, two-bit, unappreciated, unvaluable, vain, valueless, worthless, worth nothing, wutless

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see a, dime, a, dozen: sold at twelve (12) units per dime (10¢).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

With literal origins; now usually in the figuratively extended sense.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: dertien in een dozijn — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Finnish: (mahtua) kolmetoista tusinaan — so common as to be practically worthless
  • French: à la pelle — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: wie Sand am Meer — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: haufenweise — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: nachgeschmissen — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: nachgeworfen — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: hinterhergeworfen — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: en masse — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: zuhauf — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: mehr als genug — so common as to be practically worthless
  • German: massenhaft — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Hindi: कौड़ियों के भाव (kauṛiyõ ke bhāv) — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Hindi: मिट्टी के मोल (miṭṭī ke mol) — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Italian: a iosa — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Italian: a dozzine — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Northern Kurdish: ne hêja ye pênc qirûşan — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Russian: как соба́к нере́занных (kak sobák nerézannyx) — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Russian: двена́дцать на дю́жину (dvenádcatʹ na djúžinu) — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Spanish: adocenado — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Swedish: tretton på dussinet — so common as to be practically worthless
  • Thai: มากจนเป็นของธรรมดา — so common as to be practically worthless