of a piece
4
6.9
- idiom
:
coherente
- The artist's paintings and sculptures were all of a piece, reflecting her unique style.
- seems of a piece
Examples
-
Failure in space becomes more of a piece with the other profound failures of popular culture.
Blog text (4) -
For the infant, desire is of a piece with satisfaction.
Academic text (1993) -
It's all of a piece.
-
Property was not set in opposition to individual rights but was of a piece with them.
Academic text (2016) -
For him, the spiritual and the social must be of a piece.
Academic text (2008) -
O'Hara's life was of a piece with that of many of his characters.
Academic text (1997) -
And in this d'Antin's competition proposal seems to be of a piece with the rest of his performance in office.
Academic text (1996) -
Everything we've seen this week is of a piece with Bill Clinton calling Obama "an amateur."
Blog text (18) -
Carmen thought the changes in her husband's comportment all of a piece, and she hoped they might not prove permanent.
Fiction book (2002) -
Schuyler's reading of Twain's self-delusion is of a piece with his understanding of Aaron Burr's very different social persona.
Academic text (1992)
Synonyms
Having the same appearance or design
Antonyms
How Consistent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The headword 'piece' (an individual item or part) gives a plausible clue that items described as 'of a piece' come from the same ‘piece’ or share the same make/character, so a learner might partially infer consistency. However, the fixed prepositional phrase functions idiomatically to mean ‘consistent in character/quality’ and is not fully compositional or obviously derived for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Of a piece may come from the idea of making several items from the same piece of cloth. If things are cut from one piece they match in style and look, so the phrase now means 'consistent' or 'matching'.