English · Idiom Attested

through thick and thin

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Through all obstacles in a path; in good times and bad times.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Vượt qua mọi chướng ngại vật, trong thời tốt và thời xấu

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

to back him through thick and thin, but not before I had consulted the eight or nine senior legal Members (some of them more distinguished at the Bar than myself) and got their promises of support.

For years those fans have suffered the frustration of supporting the team through thick and thin only to see the best seats at big matches filled by the detested ‘ fur - coat brigade’.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Imported from Wikipedia “English-language idioms” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29), pending review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent tao khang A wife who stayed with her partner since the beginning through thick and thin Tiếng Việt Near equivalent thick and thin Through all difficulties and successes English · via tao khang

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “through thick and thin” mean?

Through all obstacles in a path; in good times and bad times.

Is “through thick and thin” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“tao khang” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.