gift from above
1
4.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
regalo del cielo
- After the storm, discovering my house was unharmed felt like a gift from above.
Examples
-
Some of them had brown skin, which took some getting used to, but we were always taught that brown was a gift from above, so we didn't mind it.
Fiction book (2002) -
But I stayed in the coffee shop and a new song came to me like a gift from above.
-
Finding my lost dog was a true gift from above that filled me with gratitude.
-
When I received a scholarship to my dream school, I knew it was a gift from above.
Synonyms
35
5.1
A large amount of money that you get unexpectedly
28
4.9
Something very helpful that you did not expect when you needed it
7
6.1
A special natural talent someone is lucky to have
2
7.5
A sudden helpful gift when you need it most
Antonyms
How Fortunate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase meaning is directly built from the constituents: 'gift' (present) + 'from' (origin) + 'above' (from a higher place), which transparently conveys a present coming from up high—commonly interpreted as heaven or divine source. This spatial-to-cause metaphor is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the parts can reasonably infer it denotes an unexpected blessing or good fortune.
Etymology
Gift from above comes from the picture of a gift sent down from heaven or high in the sky, as if something good fell to you from above. That's why it means 'a blessing' or 'good luck' that arrives unexpectedly.