larger than life
See also: larger-than-life
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larger than life (comparative form only)
- Of greater size or magnitude than is naturally or normally the case; of larger size than life-size.
- 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 30, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:
- Miss Snevellicci's papa looked very big indeed—several sizes larger than life.
- 1849, Herman Melville, “With His Prosy Old Guide-book, He Takes a Prosy Stroll”, in Redburn: His First Voyage. […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 197:
- At uniform intervals round the base of the pedestal, four naked figures in chains, somewhat larger than life, are seated in various attitudes of humiliation and despair.
- (figuratively, usually of a person) Very imposing, renowned, or impressively influential.
- 1984, Jim Steinman, Dean Pitchford (lyrics and music), “Holding Out for a Hero”, performed by Bonnie Tyler:
- I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light / He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon / And he's gotta be larger than life
- 1988 January 3, Joyce Carol Oates, “Intellectual Seduction”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- This is a person of surpassing integrity; a man of the utmost sincerity; somewhat larger than life, perhaps.
- 1996, Ani DiFranco (lyrics and music), “Napoleon”, in Dilate:
- And the next time / That I saw you / You were larger than life / You came and you conquered / You were doing alright
- 2007 December 31, Orville Schell, “Person of the Year Runners-up: Hu Jintao”, in Time[2], archived from the original on 2012-09-11:
- Nor has he cultivated the kind of flamboyant style with which his country became well acquainted in larger-than-life leaders from Chiang Kai-shek to Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
- 2023 November 21, David Streitfeld, “The Long Shadow of Steve Jobs Looms Over the Turmoil at OpenAI”, in The New York Times[3]:
- Steve Jobs, driven by his genius and his gut, invented the iPhone and built Apple into the world’s most valuable company. He was uncompromising, larger than life and irreplaceable.