bee's knees

be the bee's knees

To be exceptionally great, excellent, or high-quality. Have you ever tried the pistachio gelato at this place? It's absolutely the bee's knees! I'm so crazy about the girl I've started seeing. I think she's the bee's knees, and I don't care who knows it!
See also: knee

the bee's knees

dated slang Something or someone highly enjoyable, desirable, or impressive, especially in a fancy or elaborate way. Tom's new Cadillac is really the bee's knees! Boy, that singer last night was the bee's knees, wasn't she?
See also: knee
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bee's knees

Something that's excellent. This nonsensical phrase that was popular in the 1920s was, like “the cat's whiskers,” the equivalent of today's “really cool” or “it's amazing!” It went the way of such faddish expressions, which is to say, out.
See also: knee
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • be the bee's knees
  • the bee's knees
  • the business
  • be the business
  • a whale of a
  • caviar to the general
  • think (someone) hung the moon and the stars
  • media darling
  • bee
  • rivet counter
References in periodicals archive
Bee's Knees habit of giving back doesn't stop there.
But as England put the final touches to their preparations to face Wales in Cardiff tomorrow, Haskell said: "I don't want to disagree with what Lawrence says but no-one thinks they are the bee's knees - I don't think Martin Johnson or the rest of the players would allow that.
IT'S not unsual for female pop stars to get involved in catfights - so it's refreshing to hear that Rihanna reckons Cheryl Cole is the bee's knees.
LOOKING THE BEE'S KNEES: Katie Ryan, 6, tries on a bee keeper's hat during lesson at the Albion Youth Centre Picture: EDDIE BARFORD
PSG epitomise a lot of what people don't like about the French - they are pretentious and think they're the bee's knees because they're wearing that shirt.
This bookcase is the bee's knees, what with its tongue and groove back, satin white finish and attractive 't' shape.
Jimmy wrote: "It could be that because bees carry pollen back to the hive in sacs on their legs, all the concentrated goodness can be found around the bee's knees
The ones made out of the softest rabbit skin, worn by Wayne Rooney's Colleen to make her feel the bee's knees.
Roger is chatty about the new book and a related CD, Lively - a recording taken from several live appearances that demands you sit and listen to the very end -and drops in a word or two about his two latest children's books,All the Best and The Bee's Knees.
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (12) ANY number of women assure me that Ben Affleck is the bee's knees, but he strikes me as just another of those good-looking but bland actors who are dominating movies these days.
Look the bee's knees at a June wedding with the coat, a shift dress and a wide-brimmed hat.
Huck, the Curtain Society, Thinner and the Bee's Knees. From lovely, moody pieces such as The Curtain Society's "Every Corner of the Room" to textured and energetic songs such as Huck's "Mendelbrot Set"; from the twangy soulfulness of the Bee's Knees' "Saturday Sigh" to the straight-up grind of Thinner's rocker, "945," these are four bands that consistently put forward vibrant, contemporary-sounding indie rock, and prove over and over again why they're some of the region's favorites.
WHEN Tony Blair was first elected as prime minister, I, like many, thought he was the bee's knees.
Jonathan Fox, the new chief executive of St Philips Chambers, says Birmingham's close-knit business community and professional expertise make the city the "bee's knees" for professionals.
These children looked the bee's knees when they met up for a bug hunt in a Newcastle park.