ball of fire
1
5.4
- idiom
- /bɔl əv faɪər/
- Informal
:
torbellino
- At work, he's always a ball of fire, motivating everyone around him.
Examples
-
Everyone loves her; she's a ball of fire at every party.
-
I think he's one great ball of fire.
-
He was also a ball of fire on the field.
Blog text (11) -
He's an intern, and he thinks he's one great ball of fire.
-
With her endless energy and enthusiasm, she truly is a ball of fire.
Synonyms
57
4.5
A person, team, or organization that is very successful and able to influence others
16
5.0
A person who is active and tries hard to succeed, especially at work
4
4.8
A person who is very active and full of energy
1
3.4
A person or animal that is very lively and always active
1
5.9
A person who has a lot of energy and does not get tired
A person who is very lively and often stands out
A person who shows strong feelings and gets angry quickly
Antonyms
How Energetic
Surface Forms
Morphology
ball + of + fire
The components cue a metaphorical reading: 'fire' readily evokes energy/passion and 'ball' suggests a compact, intense unit, so a learner who knows the words could partially infer that it describes strong energy. However, mapping that image onto a person ('very energetic') is a conventionalized metaphor and not fully predictable without prior exposure, and similar constructions are not uniformly lexicalized across languages.
Etymology
Ball of fire may come from the picture of a small bright ball of fire that moves quickly and burns with energy, like something full of life and action. So the phrase is used for someone who is very 'energetic' or 'dynamic'.