piece of work
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A person or thing that is unusual or remarkable
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
một người hoặc thứ gì đó bất thường hoặc đáng chú ý
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a part or portion of a job or activity
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She's a real piece of work, always speaking her mind.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “piece of work” mean?
A person or thing that is unusual or remarkable Literally: a part or portion of a job or activity
Is “piece of work” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.