beyond one's means

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Idioms and Phrases

Too costly for one, more than one can afford. For example, A second vacation this year is well beyond our means . The noun means here signifies “resources at one's disposal,” a usage current since Shakespeare's time, as in Measure for Measure (2:2): “Let her have needful, but not lavish means.” [Late 1800s]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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