breath of fresh air
20
3.2
- idiom
- /brɛθ əv frɛʃ ɛr/
- Informal
:
soplo de aire fresco
- Her innovative ideas were a breath of fresh air for the team, reviving their enthusiasm and creativity.
- bring a breath of fresh air
Initially that's going to feel like a breath of fresh air.
- Initially that's going to feel like a breath of fresh air.
- I mean drinking orange juice or coffee, but it's almost like a breath of fresh air.
- Youthfulness is when you come from a place of you want to have fun, you're witty, you're a breath of fresh air to her and you keep her on her toes.
- But this brave weatherman stepped forward to cut the tension and with the wind at his back, gave us all a breath of fresh air.
- And it's been like a breath of fresh air for me personally.
- Well, I tell you, you are a breath of fresh air for a country.
- But what she's done for my daughter, Oh my gosh, it's like she's been a breath of fresh air in the house.
- In a world where PC power consumption just creeps ever upward, this is a breath of fresh air.
- It's been such a breath of fresh air, a fresh breath of air.
- It feels just like a breath of fresh air and like a garden.
- I know earlier when I when I said a breath of fresh air, that was like last year, like this year.
- Even though I have to say this is a breath of fresh air that I'm looking out in this lecture hall and I see your eyes.
Examples
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A mentoring relationship can bring a breath of fresh air into a long-time music educator's professional life.
Academic text (2006) -
One participant said, "Going to camp and meeting my camp counselor was a breath of fresh air."
Academic text (2008) -
Well, I tell you, you are a breath of fresh air for a country.
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Everyone needs to catch a breath of fresh air.
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I need a breath of fresh air.
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I could do with a breath of fresh air myself.
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The way he went about his business on the training ground, he was a breath of fresh air.
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May I say, that any breath of fresh air from the outside world, I think is welcome to us all.
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On the other hand, maybe a breath of fresh air is just what my family needs.
Fiction book (1997) -
I stood up and went to the kitchen window for a breath of fresh air.
Fiction book (1994)
Antonyms
How Refreshing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression builds on a clear literal image—'breath' + 'fresh air'—so a B1 learner who knows the words will likely infer a sense of refreshment or something pleasant. However, the extension to 'a person or thing that brings a welcome change' is a metaphorical, idiomatic shift rather than strictly compositional, so the exact nuance requires some prior exposure. Similar metaphors exist in many languages, making it partially predictable but not fully transparent.
Etymology
Breath of fresh air comes from the simple image of leaving a stuffy room and taking a deep breath of cool fresh air. That quick feeling of relief and new energy is why we call a person or idea a 'welcome and refreshing change'.