to be the bigger man
1
7.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
ser el más maduro
- Instead of retaliating, she chose to be the bigger man and walk away from the fight.
But I thought, oh fuck's sake, be the bigger man how I could wear it, but I couldn't.
- But I thought, oh fuck's sake, be the bigger man how I could wear it, but I couldn't.
Examples
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Why the fuck I gotta be the bigger man?
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So I figured, why not be the bigger man and just give you a call.
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Angle it somewhere you let it go, which I've been the bigger man and I think it's great to see that I was just fuming that they won but they won.
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I am ashamed to have said as much, and hope Dale can be the bigger man and accept my apology along with my heartfelt offer to help rebuild it.
Blog text (2) -
In a heated argument, I decided to be the bigger man and apologize first.
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He knew it was time to be the bigger man and forgive those who had wronged him.
Synonyms
117
7.3
Act with courage and responsibility when facing a hard situation
68
7.2
Acting with courage and responsibility when facing a problem
Antonyms
How Gracious
- Formal
16
8.0
∞
1.4
- Informal
1
7.0
- Informal
30
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is built from a metaphorical extension of 'big' to moral/psychological size: 'be the bigger man' invites someone to act with greater generosity or maturity than another. While a learner who knows 'be', 'big' (as generous/kind) and 'man' can plausibly infer this sense, the comparative metaphor and pragmatic nuance are not strictly literal, so comprehension is partial rather than fully predictable.
Etymology
The phrase be the bigger man comes from the image of a bigger man who could win a fight but chooses to hold back and stay calm. So it means 'to act more mature and not react negatively in a difficult situation'.