to a fare-thee-well

to a fare-thee-well

1. To a state or condition of utmost perfection or completion. Her new house is absolutely gorgeous! They've designed it to a fare-thee-well.
2. To the greatest or furthest degree possible. After the economy crashed, the government began whittling down social welfare to a fare-thee-well. The home team trounced their opponents, beating them to a fare-thee-well.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

to a fare-thee-well

To the most extreme degree, especially a condition of perfection. For example, We've cleaned the house to a fare-thee-well, or He played the part of martyr to a fare-thee-well. This term first appeared as to a fare-you-well in the late 1800s, and the more archaic-sounding present form replaced it about 1940.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

to a fare-thee-well

to perfection; thoroughly. US
This expression is of late 18th-century American origin, and is also found in the form to a fare-you-well .
1911 R. D. Saunders Colonel Todhunter The fight's begun, and we've got to rally around old Bill Strickland to a fare-you-well.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • fare thee well
  • cook (something) to perfection
  • cook to perfection
  • finishing touch(es)
  • curves in all the right places
  • have curves in all the right places
  • force (someone or something) off (of) (something)
  • force off
  • beauhunk
  • bohunk
References in periodicals archive
In a recent 1,500 word analysis, the online global intelligence company STRATFOR noted that while experts have assessed the European Union (EU) and European economics and finances to a fare-thee-well, little attention has been paid to underlying factors such as European nationalism.
European Crisis Fertile Ground for Nationalist Parties
All performed as though they had been rehearsed to a fare-thee-well. Especially strong were Carlos Lopez, Misty Copeland, Marcelo Gomes, Erica Cornejo, and David Hallberg.
Autumn Reveries at ABT. (New York)
One can say that, of all early African American authors, Phillis Wheatley--along with Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass--would be the most in danger of being studied to a fare-thee-well. Bassard's close readings of two of the best-known Wheatley poems --"On Being Brought From Africa" and "To the University in Cambridge"--demonstrate that there is much left to discover in these seemingly well-known verses.
Spiritual Interrogations: Culture, Gender, and Community in Early African American Women's Writing
Your brilliant welfare policies have more or less destroyed the black family, with illegitimacy rates now approaching 70 percent; and nice going there with affirmative action, which has polarized things to a fare-thee-well, enabling racism on both sides, as well as costing the economy, by one estimate, four GNP points per year.
Dead Right: The Fall of the Conservatism of Hope and the Rise of the Conservatism of Fear
Whether it is a nursing home encounter, an industry's waste disposal policies, or what have you, an institution's actions can be analyzed to a fare-thee-well. In the name of comprehensiveness, fairness, and legal defensibility, regulators feel bound to take all contingencies into account.
Casualties of red tape