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View synonyms for feet of clay
feet of clay
noun
- a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person:
He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay.
- any unexpected or critical fault.
feet of clay
- People are said to have “feet of clay” if they are revealed to have a weakness or flaw that most people were unaware of: “When the coach was arrested for drunken driving, the students realized that their hero had feet of clay.”
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Word History and Origins
Origin of feet of clay1
First recorded in 1855–60
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Idioms and Phrases
A failing or weakness in a person's character, as in The media are always looking for a popular idol's feet of clay . This expression comes from the Bible (Daniel 2:31–33), where the prophet interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with a head of gold and feet of iron clay. [c. 1600]Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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