to run circles around
6
4.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
superar fácilmente
- In the competition, Sarah managed to run circles around all her opponents with her speed and strategy.
- gonna run circles around
- run circles around people
And you had glows keep running circles around these snail hoes.
- And you had glows keep running circles around these snail hoes.
Examples
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I have 150 AP students that could run circles around kids in Exeter.
Blog text (29) -
I can run circles around those jerks.
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I'm running circles around you, you know that?
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I'm running circles around you.
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Well, my new Defender can run circles around my old Defender off road.
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The rest of the NFL looks like they are running circles around the 'Boys from Valley Ranch.
Blog text (11) -
You know as well as I do, he'd run circles around you with one leg!
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I could run circles around Charlotte Smoot on the court.
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Another team with a couple of fast guards could run circles around the slow bigs and dominate the game.
Blog text (23) -
Paul Ryan could run circles around the likes of Obama when it comes to debating economic philosophies.
Blog text (2)
Synonyms
83
3.4
Do better than others, for example at work or school
54
4.1
To get an advantage over someone by being clever
30
4.8
Do better than someone or something
22
3.8
Be better than someone at something
8
4.6
To be much better than someone or something
3
5.3
To defeat someone by using their own methods
2
6.1
To do better than someone or something and win
Antonyms
How Dominant
275
3.7
- Informal
6
4.6
30
4.8
∞
1.4
517
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase evokes a clear physical image—literal running + circles + around—which partly supports the sense of outperforming by moving faster or outmaneuvering someone. However, the specific metaphorical meaning 'to be much better/easily outperform' is an extended, idiomatic use that not all B1 learners will reliably infer from the parts alone, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb run circles around may come from the image of someone literally run many circles around another person, making the other person look slow and the runner clearly better. So it came to mean 'to be much better, faster, or smarter than someone'.