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Glite Dictionary
to fill someone's shoes

to fill someone's shoes

4 5.3
To take over someone's job when it is hard to do it as well
  • idiom
  • /fɪl ˈsʌmˌwʌnz ʃuz/
translation icon : ocupar el lugar de alguien
  • I'll do my best to fill her shoes while she's on maternity leave.
  • hard to fill someone's shoes
  • able to fill someone's shoes
  • try to fill someone's shoes

Examples

Synonyms

to replace
vsto fill someone's shoes
∞ 1.8

Put another thing or person in place of one that is broken

focuses on assuming duties with the extra challenge of matching past quality
to fill
vsto fill someone's shoes
396 3.0

To choose someone for a job or role

implies taking duties that are hard to perform as well as predecessor
to cover
vsto fill someone's shoes
362 3.1

To take someone's place and do their work for a short time

refers to taking over duties more permanently and with a risk of failing to match
to substitute
vsto fill someone's shoes
130 2.4

To use one thing or person in place of another

applies when taking permanent duties and struggling to match former performance
to stand in
vsto fill someone's shoes
115 3.5

To take someone else's place for a short time

is used when taking serious duties that are hard to perform as well
to fill in
vsto fill someone's shoes
100 3.3

Do someone else's job for a short time

focuses on assuming a position with lasting responsibility and performance pressure
to supplant
vsto fill someone's shoes
23 7.5

To take the place of a person or thing because the new one is better

is used when someone assumes duties but faces difficulty matching the predecessor
to take on the role
vsto fill someone's shoes
10 3.1

Accept a job, responsibility, or part in a play

implies it is hard to match the previous person's performance
to carry the mantle
vsto fill someone's shoes
  • Formal
1 7.4

To take on responsibility as the next leader

highlights that taking duties is hard to do as well as the previous person
to take up the running of
vsto fill someone's shoes
6.1

Start managing something after the previous person leaves

emphasizes that matching the predecessor's performance is difficult
to supervene upon
vsto fill someone's shoes
  • Formal
9.9

To take the place of something or someone

is instead used when the new person faces difficulty matching past performance

How Capable

to outperform
30 4.8
to fill someone's shoes
4 5.3
to take over
862 3.1
to stand in
115 3.5

Surface Forms

fill someone's shoes infinitive
filled someone's shoes past
filled someone's shoes past participle
filling someone's shoes present participle
fills someone's shoes third person singular

Morphology

fill + someone's + shoes

The expression maps the role or position onto a pair of 'shoes', so a learner who knows 'fill' and 'shoes' can plausibly infer a general sense of 'take someone's place' from the constituents. However, the evaluative nuance that it is difficult to perform as well as the original person and the idiomatic status of the phrasing are not fully predictable from the parts and may vary cross-linguistically, so full comprehension typically requires prior exposure.

Etymology

The idiom fill someone's shoes comes from the image of putting on another person's shoes to fill their place. If the shoes were very big, it was hard to do well, so the phrase means 'to take over someone's job or duties' and often suggests it is difficult to match them.