head and shoulders above
6
4.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
muy superior
- In terms of customer service, this restaurant is head and shoulders above the competition.
- head and shoulders above the rest
- head and shoulders above the competition
- head and shoulders above everyone else
I think this is really head and shoulders above the rest.
- I think this is really head and shoulders above the rest.
- So star of the show stood out heads and shoulders above everybody else, not just my opinion.
- OK, hiatus is head and shoulders above most tequilas, let alone an Irish whiskey.
Examples
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I think in recent years Kane has been head and shoulders above those that he's gone up against and that's shown in especially in the home matches.
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His intelligence, experience, and cool calculating demeanor on the field put him head and shoulders above CK.
Blog text (7) -
I think this is really head and shoulders above the rest.
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Your designs stand out head and shoulders above the crowd.
Blog text (27) -
And if you seize this opportunity, you will be head and shoulders above the crowd when the doors open and this world starts back over.
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The second season was head and shoulders above the first in pretty much all respects.
Blog text (20) -
Out of the three finalists, he was clearly head and shoulders above the other two.
Blog text (5) -
That's another example of how he is head and shoulders above your average leader.
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Imagine how this would help MV stand head and shoulders above the rest of Orange County.
Blog text (18) -
The keyboard dock on the Infinity lifts it head and shoulders above any other tablet.
Blog text (19)
Synonyms
203
4.2
Better in quality or performance than similar things
35
3.2
Better than most people or things of the same kind
4
6.2
Better than any other person or thing
4
4.3
Clearly better than others in quality or style
2
6.8
Much better than others in skill or quality
1
4.3
Slightly better than similar people or things in quality
1
4.2
Better than usual in quality, performance or value
Much better than others in the same field
Very good and the best in quality
Antonyms
How Superior
- Informal
6
4.3
257
3.4
203
4.2
92
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
head + and + shoulders + above
The image of someone being literally 'a head and shoulders above' others makes the meaning of clear superiority directly inferable from 'head' + 'shoulders' + 'above'. This spatial-comparison metaphor is straightforward and common cross-linguistically, so an average B1 learner who knows the constituents should be able to derive the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The idiom head and shoulders above comes from the simple image of someone head and shoulders standing taller than the people around them. That's why it now means 'much better' or 'superior'—you visibly stand above the rest.