"just so" meaning in English

See just so in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsəʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsoʊ/ [General-American]
Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} just so (not comparable)
  1. In the precise manner indicated. Tags: not-comparable Synonyms: even so
    Sense id: en-just_so-en-adv-en:exactly_thus Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 32 16 3 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 58 37 2 3 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 61 34 3 3
  2. (Arranged) very neatly and tidily. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-just_so-en-adv-BTKu0CaS
  3. To the same extent. Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-just_so-en-adv-~tNSFBAu
  4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see just, so Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-just_so-en-adv-DxSQ4L3R
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: just-so story
{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "just so (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "just-so story"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "49 32 16 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 37 2 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "61 34 3 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonym: even so (archaic)"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              34
            ]
          ],
          "text": "If you don’t turn the knob just so, the door won’t open.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 March 16, Antonia Cundy, “The Opus Dei diaries”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17:",
          "text": "Each towel was folded just so. If it wasn't perfect, they did it again.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the precise manner indicated."
      ],
      "id": "en-just_so-en-adv-en:exactly_thus",
      "links": [
        [
          "precise",
          "precise"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:exactly thus"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "even so"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              257,
              264
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2002 March 3, Lisa W. Foderaro, “When There's No Place Else”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:",
          "text": "Jason, 14, who arrived more than two years ago after drifting through five foster homes and a psychiatric hospital, is showing visitors with evident pride how neatly the bookshelves in the living room are kept, how the sneakers in the mud room are lined up just so.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015 August 3, Erica Goode, “Solitary Confinement: Punished for Life”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2015:",
          "text": "“Everything has to be just so,” he [Lonnie Rose] said. “Being in a concrete box for a long time makes you even more O.C.D.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              118,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018 October 22, Paul Tenorio, “Peter Vermes' singular attention to detail makes him perfect for Sporting Kansas City, but would it work for the USMNT?”, in The Athletic, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025:",
          "text": "But the details in this room matter to Vermes, […] It’s why the water bottles in his office refrigerator are lined up just so […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2020 October 7, Shane O’Neill, “‘Baptized in Blackness’: Why Homecoming Is Vital to the Black College Experience”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2025:",
          "text": "“Your outfit has to be just so.” “We tend to have outfits that match.” “You’ve got to come, and you better come correct. I tell all the chicks, every now and then, ‘Look, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be walking around with that little bikini on.’ So we were flag girls, and we wore full uniforms.[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              141,
              148
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2021, Tracey Lange, “Jackie”, in We Are the Brennans, London: Pan Books, published 2022, →ISBN:",
          "text": "They didn’t even have time to speculate about what Grail wanted before Vivienne walked in seconds later. Even at midnight her appearance was just so. Smooth hair, tight rippy jeans, one of those no-shoulder gypsy shirts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "very neatly and tidily."
      ],
      "id": "en-just_so-en-adv-BTKu0CaS",
      "links": [
        [
          "Arranged",
          "arrange"
        ],
        [
          "neatly",
          "neatly"
        ],
        [
          "tidily",
          "tidily"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "Arranged",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Arranged) very neatly and tidily."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              47,
              54
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 367:",
          "text": "Poor in quality are these classes [of poetry], just so rich in the number of songs and melodies are the other groups which constitute the wedding-songs proper.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To the same extent."
      ],
      "id": "en-just_so-en-adv-~tNSFBAu",
      "links": [
        [
          "extent",
          "extent"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Your dog is just so friendly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              23
            ],
            [
              24,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I like any flower, just so as it’s real.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see just, so"
      ],
      "id": "en-just_so-en-adv-DxSQ4L3R",
      "links": [
        [
          "just",
          "just#English"
        ],
        [
          "so",
          "so#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsəʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsoʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "just so"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English uncomparable adverbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "just so (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "just-so story"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonym: even so (archaic)"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              27,
              34
            ]
          ],
          "text": "If you don’t turn the knob just so, the door won’t open.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2024 March 16, Antonia Cundy, “The Opus Dei diaries”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 17:",
          "text": "Each towel was folded just so. If it wasn't perfect, they did it again.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the precise manner indicated."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "precise",
          "precise"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:exactly thus"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "even so"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              257,
              264
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2002 March 3, Lisa W. Foderaro, “When There's No Place Else”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:",
          "text": "Jason, 14, who arrived more than two years ago after drifting through five foster homes and a psychiatric hospital, is showing visitors with evident pride how neatly the bookshelves in the living room are kept, how the sneakers in the mud room are lined up just so.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              29
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015 August 3, Erica Goode, “Solitary Confinement: Punished for Life”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2015:",
          "text": "“Everything has to be just so,” he [Lonnie Rose] said. “Being in a concrete box for a long time makes you even more O.C.D.”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              118,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2018 October 22, Paul Tenorio, “Peter Vermes' singular attention to detail makes him perfect for Sporting Kansas City, but would it work for the USMNT?”, in The Athletic, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2025:",
          "text": "But the details in this room matter to Vermes, […] It’s why the water bottles in his office refrigerator are lined up just so […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              23,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2020 October 7, Shane O’Neill, “‘Baptized in Blackness’: Why Homecoming Is Vital to the Black College Experience”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2025:",
          "text": "“Your outfit has to be just so.” “We tend to have outfits that match.” “You’ve got to come, and you better come correct. I tell all the chicks, every now and then, ‘Look, if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be walking around with that little bikini on.’ So we were flag girls, and we wore full uniforms.[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              141,
              148
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2021, Tracey Lange, “Jackie”, in We Are the Brennans, London: Pan Books, published 2022, →ISBN:",
          "text": "They didn’t even have time to speculate about what Grail wanted before Vivienne walked in seconds later. Even at midnight her appearance was just so. Smooth hair, tight rippy jeans, one of those no-shoulder gypsy shirts.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "very neatly and tidily."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Arranged",
          "arrange"
        ],
        [
          "neatly",
          "neatly"
        ],
        [
          "tidily",
          "tidily"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "Arranged",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Arranged) very neatly and tidily."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              47,
              54
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 367:",
          "text": "Poor in quality are these classes [of poetry], just so rich in the number of songs and melodies are the other groups which constitute the wedding-songs proper.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To the same extent."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "extent",
          "extent"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              12,
              19
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Your dog is just so friendly.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              19,
              23
            ],
            [
              24,
              26
            ]
          ],
          "text": "I like any flower, just so as it’s real.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see just, so"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "just",
          "just#English"
        ],
        [
          "so",
          "so#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsəʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌd͡ʒʌst ˈsoʊ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "just so"
}

Download raw JSONL data for just so meaning in English (4.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.