classic case
- noun
- /ˈklæsɪk keɪs/
- The war in the former Yugoslavia was, from the very beginning, a classic case for collective action.
- classic case study
- represents a classic case
So we have here a classic case of unintended consequences.
- So we have here a classic case of unintended consequences.
- I think this is a classic case of bad timing, bro.
- That's when you know it's the like classic case for using the parallel axis theorem.
- It's impossible to diagnose someone who isn't alive, but Sir Isaac Newton sounds like a classic case of Asperger.
- So this is a classic case of the brain providing a fictional version of what it's seeing.
- But it's very hard for victims of that kind of harassment to prove what has happened because it's a classic case of he said, she said.
- I think what we have on our hands right now is a classic case of a stalker, a true stalker.
- So for example, you know, great, great classic case of this.
Examples
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This is a classic case of miscommunication.
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A classic case of denial.
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So you use the term the classic case of oil driving out other economic activities.
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What we have here is your classic case...
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That sounds like a classic case of falling in love.
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This is a classic case of throwing good money after bad.
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So we have here a classic case of unintended consequences.
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Prior to moving toward the market, Mexico suffered a classic case of financial repression.
Academic text (1998) -
Apartheid thus represents a classic case of subjugation through a strategy of divide and rule.
Academic text (1998) -
This is a classic case of miscommunication that led to a major misunderstanding.
Synonyms
An example that clearly shows the point you are making
A clear, typical case that shows the main idea
A clear example that shows a typical situation very well
A passage in a book or article often used as the best example of an idea
How Typical
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a typical or representative example' is directly and compositionally derived from 'classic' (standard, exemplary) modifying 'case' (an instance or situation). This is a regular adjective + noun construction following common semantic logic found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase classic case comes from the idea that a classic is a famous model and a case is an example, so a classic case means a clear, 'typical' example of something.