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Glite Dictionary
with flying colors

with flying colors

19 3.4
Someone does something very successfully
  • idiom
translation icon : con gran éxito
  • She completed her project with flying colors, impressing everyone with the high quality of her work.
  • pass with flying colors
  • test with flying colors

So yeah, I, I passed with flying colours.

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Examples

  • You just passed the course with flying colors.

    License to Wed (2007)

  • Now, you have graduated from kindergarten with flying colors.

    The Kremlin Letter (1970)

  • So I passed with flying colors and here I am today.

  • You passed the test with flying colors, my dear.

    Fantasm Comes Again (1977)

  • And she passed the evaluation with flying colors!

    Abraham And Lincoln (2007)

  • She's passed them all with flying colors.

    Allegiant (2016)

  • Fortunately, Emma Joy passed with flying colors.

    Academic text (2015)

  • If Mbeki were to be rated on his performance on the international stage, he would pass with flying colors.

    Academic text (2006)

  • So far, the theory has passed all tests with flying colors (Taylor and Hulse got a Nobel Prize for this work).

    Academic text (1999)

  • I had taken every test with flying colors, and I couldn't wait to hear what my crucial role would be in America's triumphant return to space.

Synonyms

spectacularly
vswith flying colors
28 4.3

To do something in a very impressive or dramatic way

stresses clear top success rather than only showy impact
with a bang
vswith flying colors
  • Informal
28 5.1

In an exciting way that attracts a lot of attention

signals notable success rather than only dramatic arrival
flying colors
vswith flying colors
  • Informal
20 3.2

A complete success showing that someone did very well

is the phrase form used to say the same success
hands-down
vswith flying colors
  • Informal
7 4.1

Won or achieved very easily without trying hard

means notable success by distinction rather than ease of achievement
shiningly
vswith flying colors
5.9

In a very successful and impressive way

focuses on distinguished success rather than flashy effect

Antonyms

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

How Successful

triumphantly
15 4.1
with flying colors
19 3.4
successfully
350 1.8
well
∞ 1.0
adequately
83 3.0
poorly
283 1.4

Surface Forms

with flying colors positive

Morphology

with + flying + colors

Although the components 'flying' and 'colors' can evoke the image of flags waving, the idiomatic sense 'very successfully' depends on cultural/historical knowledge (flags flown to signal victory) that a B1 learner who only knows the literal words is unlikely to have. The overall meaning is metaphorical and not directly derivable from the constituents, so it is not predictable from the words alone.

Etymology

The idiom with flying colors may come from old ships that returned with their flags, the colors, flying high after a victory. When a ship had its colors still flying, people knew it had won, so the phrase now means 'very successfully'.