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leap of faith

leap of faith

27 6.1
Doing something risky because you believe it will work
  • noun
  • /lip əv feɪθ/
  • Informal
translation icon : acto de fe
  • All right, so five years ago you inspired me to take a leap of faith and build my own business.

He's making leaps of faith back to Hanson.

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Examples

  • The fact is that each one feels like a terrifying leap of faith.

    Blog text (8)
  • To start your own business, you often need to take a leap of faith into the unknown.

  • But to have that leap of faith, I was tired of being told no.

  • And although it was a leap of faith, the reason why I did that was because I felt stuck, I felt held back.

  • I just felt like taking a leap of faith.

  • Listen, what we did was crazy-- we know that-- but, you know, it was just truly a leap of faith.

  • In the end, doing the impossible for God will take a leap of faith.

    Blog text (7)
  • I'm asking you to take a leap of faith.

  • When her boys were teens, she quit her job and took a leap of faith to write more seriously.

    Blog text (17)
  • My decision to go to Guatemala this summer was a leap of faith from fear to faith.

    Blog text (29)

Synonyms

act of faith
vsleap of faith
5 6.8

An action or decision you make because you trust something without proof

involves a risky attempt with uncertain outcome and required courage

Antonyms

certainty
  • Literature
202 3.4

A strong feeling that something is true or will happen

158 2.5

Care that helps you avoid danger or mistakes

How Risky

gamble
65 3.5
leap of faith
  • Informal
27 6.1
attempt
1.0

Surface Forms

leap of faith singular

Morphology

leap + of + faith

The phrase combines 'leap' (a jump or sudden move) with 'faith' (trust), so a learner who knows both words can plausibly infer a metaphorical ‘jump’ taken on trust — i.e., doing something despite uncertainty. However, the expression encodes a non-literal, idiomatic nuance about risk and commitment that is metaphorical rather than strictly compositional, so it is not fully predictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Leap of faith comes from the simple image of making a big jump: a leap across a gap while trusting, or using your faith, that you will land even though you cannot see the other side. So, it means 'to try something risky or uncertain because you trust it will work'.