too big for one's britches
3
9.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
creerse más de lo que se es
- Don't let your recent success make you feel too big for your britches; stay humble.
- get too big for your britches
Examples
-
She thought she could give advice on everything, but it was clear she was too big for her britches.
-
Serves you right, getting too big for your britches, taking notions about rising above your raising.
Fiction book (1997) -
Well, you always said I was too big for my britches.
-
I guess you could say I had gotten a little too big for my britches.
-
You're always getting too big for your britches.
-
"You're getting a little too big for your britches," my father says.
Fiction book (1995) -
I grew up in a town of about 1,500 people, and I think maybe I was a little too big for my britches.
Blog text (3) -
I've come to apologize for acting too big for my britches.
-
After winning the award, he started acting like he was too big for his britches.
Synonyms
260
4.5
Behaving as if you are more important or better than other people
227
8.9
Someone who thinks they are much better than others
149
5.5
Acting as if more important than others
99
4.2
Being too confident and acting proud so other people dislike you
74
7.3
Trying to seem more important or clever than you really are
57
5.8
Acting more important and formal than necessary
24
6.6
Seeing yourself as much more important than other people
19
5.3
To believe you can do more than you really can
16
7.4
Acting as if you are better than other people
13
5.8
Acting as if you are better than other people
4
8.6
Claiming to be more important or successful than you are
4
6.8
Thinking you are much better or more important than others
2
9.8
Too much pride and confidence that makes people dislike you
2
7.0
To act very confident and proud to get attention
1
7.2
Thinking you are more important than other people
1
8.4
Being too proud and too sure of yourself so you ignore advice and make bad decisions
1
6.7
Thinking you are better than other people and acting proud
1
8.8
Acting too proud and thinking you are better than others
Thinking you are better than other people
Thinking you are much more important than other people
Acting more confident and important than you really are
Antonyms
How Arrogant
Surface Forms
Morphology
too + big + for + one + britches
The literal words suggest being physically 'too big for one's trousers', which provides a metaphorical hint that someone thinks too highly of themselves; however the specific idiomatic sense (overconfidence/arrogance) depends on that metaphorical mapping and on recognizing the dialectal word 'britches'. A B1 learner who knows the individual words may only partially infer the meaning but would likely need prior exposure to reach the intended idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Too big for one's britches may come from the image of a person wearing trousers that are much too large for them. The word britches means 'trousers', so that picture of someone in clothes bigger than they are suggests 'acting more important' or 'arrogant', which is what the phrase means today.