streets ahead
- idiom
- UK
:
muy por delante
- Overall, Ragot and Atherton were streets ahead of the rest of the field in Hafjell.
I've spoken to him the he is streets ahead of this stuff.
- I've spoken to him the he is streets ahead of this stuff.
Examples
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Her performance in the competition was streets ahead of everyone else's, earning her first place.
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In terms of technology, the new smartphone is streets ahead of its competitors.
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I've spoken to him the he is streets ahead of this stuff.
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Streets ahead of anything we've got.
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All the bleep tests, in terms of paces, he was streets ahead of everyone.
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Parks is streets ahead of HIMYM, but HIMYM still has qualities that I love.
Blog text (1) -
The university's research department is streets ahead in its field, producing groundbreaking studies.
Synonyms
203
4.2
Better in quality or performance than similar things
6
4.3
Being much better than others at something
5
4.3
Much more prepared and able to guess what will happen than other people
4
5.6
Much more advanced than others in development and skill
4
4.3
Clearly better than others in quality or style
Antonyms
How Good
Surface Forms
Morphology
streets + ahead
The adverb 'ahead' supplies the basic meaning of being in front or superior, but 'streets' functions as a colloquial intensifier meaning 'by a large margin' rather than a literal spatial unit. A B1 learner who knows 'street(s)' and 'ahead' might guess a sense of being 'in front' but would not reliably infer the idiomatic sense 'considerably more' without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
The idiom streets ahead likely comes from the picture of a race or journey where someone is so far in front they are already on different streets. That's why saying someone is streets ahead means they are 'considerably more advanced' or 'much better' than others.