feet of clay
Use Feet of clay in a sentencefeet of clay
noun
1.
a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person: He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay.
2.
any unexpected or critical fault.
Origin:
1855–60
1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To feet of clay
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
feet of clay definition
People are said to have “feet of clay” if they are revealed to have a weakness or flaw that most people were unaware of: “When the coach was arrested for drunken driving, the students realized that their hero had feet of clay.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
00:10
Feet of clay
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
feet of clay
A failing or weakness in a person's character, as in The media are always looking for a popular idol's feet of clay. This expression comes from the Bible (Daniel 2:31-33), where the prophet interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with a head of gold and feet of iron clay. [c. 1600]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Then all the heroes died, and those that didn't came down with terminal feet of clay.
Once the ash disposal is completed, the site will be covered with two feet of clay, topsoil and vegetation.
If you pardon my language, it's good to know our saint has feet of clay.
Half the apparent geniuses turn out to have feet of clay.
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