like a candle in the wind
- idiom
:
como una vela en el viento
- Her confidence was like a candle in the wind during the interview.
Examples
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Small businesses in the crisis were like a candle in the wind, struggling to survive.
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Their hope for peace remained like a candle in the wind, flickering in difficult times.
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After her illness, his optimism was like a candle in the wind, barely holding on.
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The economy feels like a candle in the wind these days.
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After her illness, his optimism felt like a candle in the wind, fragile and easily shaken by setbacks.
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In the midst of the financial downturn, many small businesses found they were like a candle in the wind, at risk of vanishing.
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Their dreams of a stable future were like a candle in the wind, flickering uncertainly with every challenge they faced.
Synonyms
83
3.4
Easily broken or damaged because it is not strong
80
4.4
Not steady and likely to change, fail, or fall
1
4.8
Easy to break or damage
A person or thing that is fragile and easily hurt by difficulties
Easily hurt or upset in your feelings
Antonyms
How Fragile
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + a + candle + in + the + wind
This is a straightforward simile: a candle threatened by wind evokes easily extinguished fragility. The meaning ('fragile, unstable, easily destroyed by external forces') is directly and predictably derived from the literal constituents ('candle' + 'wind' with the comparator 'like'), a cross-linguistically common image that a B1 learner who knows the words will grasp.
Etymology
Like a candle in the wind paints a picture of a small candle flame in a strong wind that flickers and can be blown out. So, it means 'fragile', 'unstable', or 'easily destroyed'.