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late bloomer

late bloomer

11 4.6
A person who shows skill or talent later than others
  • noun
  • /leɪt ˈbluːmər/
translation icon : persona de maduración tardía
  • As a child, I was considered a late bloomer because I started reading much later than my peers.

Maybe people been unamazed by it forever, but I'm a late bloomer, you know, it just took me a long time to get out of my shell in some ways.

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Examples

  • I was a late bloomer, made lots of mistakes, and floundered for a while.

    Blog text (3)
  • In conclusion, many of our "best and brightest" lawyers are late bloomers.

    Blog text (24)
  • And I was a late bloomer, so I was also quite small at that time.

  • I guess we're both late bloomers.

  • But we're a family of late bloomers.

  • I know, I was a late bloomer myself.

  • I am a late bloomer, just starting to take my desire for business success seriously.

    Blog text (30)
  • Well, late bloomers always turn out best anyhow.

  • I'm a late bloomer.

  • Skye, for her part, was tall, a late bloomer with long, gangly legs and arms.

    Fiction book (2002)

Antonyms

A person who learns skills or shows talents earlier than other children

How Late

late bloomer
11 4.6

Surface Forms

late bloomer singular
late bloomers plural

Morphology

late + bloomer

The phrase is compositionally transparent: 'late' (occurring later) plus 'bloomer' (one who blooms — agentive use of 'bloom' meaning to develop or flourish). The metaphor from flowering to maturing is regular and predictable (‑er agentive morphology), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer 'a person who develops or shows talent later than usual.'

Etymology

The noun late bloomer comes from gardens. A bloomer is a plant that makes flowers, and a late bloomer shows its flowers after the others. So, a late bloomer is someone who 'develops skills or shows talents later' than most people.