Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
cut a figure en · VERB
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(idiomatic) To present an image; to make an impression.
As a leader of the free world the United States cuts an unconvincing figure with its racial segregation.
1950, The Crisis, page 647:Your desire was to cut a figure in the Fashionable World. Well, to-day you have your wish—to-day you are famous.
1913, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 57, in The Amateur Gentleman:To cut a fine/sorry figure.
Dirk Stroeve cut such an absurd figure that I felt inclined to laugh.
1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 27”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:Standing in a field at an army barracks in Poznan, Poland, and wearing the black Stetson that is customary for the 2nd Cavalry, Colonel McChrystal cut a figure both commanding and incongruous.
2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Composed and genial, the Corries cut an impressive figure in the sun-drenched Haifa courthouse.
2010 September 9, Karl Vick, “Israel's Military on the Spot Over Activist's Death”, in Time:
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