cockhorse of arrogance
- idiom
- UK
:
arrogancia desmedida
- Critics accused the CEO of riding the cockhorse of arrogance during the press conference.
Examples
-
She warned him not to mount the cockhorse of arrogance just because of one success.
-
Many politicians find themselves astride the cockhorse of arrogance after a landslide victory.
-
His speech was a prime example of a cockhorse of arrogance.
-
Don't be such a cockhorse of arrogance in meetings!
-
After his impressive presentation, he seemed to be riding the cockhorse of arrogance in front of his colleagues.
-
Winning the award only made her mount the cockhorse of arrogance as she bragged about her achievements.
-
The politician's later comments reflected his cockhorse of arrogance, as he dismissed the concerns of his constituents.
Synonyms
25
8.1
Acting as if better than other people
4
7.0
A proud, rude way of acting that shows little respect for other people
1
9.9
A person who thinks they are better than others
Actions that are loud and show too much confidence
A man who is too proud of his looks and clothes
Antonyms
How Arrogant
- Literature
39
8.9
- UK
133
4.8
49
3.5
456
2.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
cockhorse + of + arrogance
The key constituent 'cockhorse' is archaic/rare and has no clear literal meaning provided; even if a learner knows 'cock' and 'horse', their combination does not transparently yield the figurative sense of boastful self-assurance. The trailing 'of arrogance' only signals the semantic domain but does not make the metaphorical mapping predictable, so a B1 learner would not reliably infer the idiomatic meaning from the parts.
Etymology
Cockhorse of arrogance paints a small picture: imagine someone climbing onto a showy, proud horse, a cock horse, to stand taller and look down on others. That's why the phrase means 'to be openly proud or boastful'.