tall order

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

tall order

/ˈtɔːl ˈɔːdə/ UK
/ˈtɔl ˈɔɹdɚ/ US
[ˈtɔl ˈɔɹɾɚ] US

Where it comes from

From tall (“big, large”) + order (“request”).

noun tall orders · taller order · tallest order

idiomatic A big job; a difficult challenge. [W]e must come, consequently, to the impressive conclusion that to live on potatoes alone[…], a man must eat at least 30 lbs. of potato a day—which would be rather a tall order, even for an Irishman.
Similar: big ask · Opposite: bagatelle, waltz, walk, breeze, cake and gingerbread, cakewalk, child's play, cinch, doddle, doss, duck soup, easy pickings

Translations

Every language

noun big job, difficult challenge

Français	la croix et la bannière
Italiano	compito arduo, osso duro

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"tall order." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tall%20order. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tall order. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20order

Chicago

"tall order." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20order.

BibTeX

@misc{tall_order_2026,
  title = {tall order},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20order},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}