English Reference
Idiom idiom

green thumb


A natural skill for gardening.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

My grandmother has a green thumb; her roses are beautiful.

CONTEXTUAL

He never studied gardening, but he clearly has a green thumb because his tomatoes grow better than anyone else's.

COMPLEX

Though she lived in a cramped city apartment, her green thumb transformed the tiny balcony into a lush jungle of herbs and flowers.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    all fingers and thumbs

    Of a person, clumsy or awkward.

  2. 02

    all thumbs

    Clumsy; awkward; not dextrous.

  3. 03

    brown thumb

    A lack of skill at growing plants; a poor gardening skill.

  4. 04

    butcher's thumb

    A dishonest practice in which a butcher uses their thumb to add extra weight to a scale when weighing meat.

  5. 05

    Chinese green

    Synonym of lokao.

  6. 06

    fash one's thumb

    To bother oneself; to worry about something.

  7. 07

    go green

    To implement certain lifestyle changes designed to help one live in a more ecologically friendly way.

  8. 08

    God's green earth

    The world.

Last updated August 10, 2026