get a life
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Start living a fuller existence.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
♫ Wo n’t these women ever get a life? ♫
' Oh, I've seen plenty like you in me life, Danny Burrows, only the majority of them were women.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “get a life” mean?
Start living a fuller existence.
Is “get a life” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.