Put someone on a pedestal 🚶⬆️🗿

Meaning

To admire someone greatly and believe they are perfect or better than others.

Origin

The idea of placing statues or idols on elevated platforms, or pedestals, dates back to ancient times. These elevated figures were often revered or worshipped, signifying their importance and exalted status. When we 'put someone on a pedestal' today, we're metaphorically elevating them to a position of high regard and admiration, as if they were a statue deserving of honor and praise. It captures that human tendency to idealize those we look up to, sometimes to an unrealistic degree.

💪🙏 pride 💖 love

Put someone on a pedestal represented with emoji🚶⬆️🗿

This playful sequence invites us to consider the delightful absurdity of elevating the mundane. It functions as a charming reminder not just of our tendency to admire, but of the inherent whimsicality in how we choose to celebrate others, drawing a parallel between simple actions and grand gestures while subverting the notion of solemnity within admiration.

Examples

  • People often put their heroes on a pedestal, forgetting that they are also human.
  • She was so impressed with his skills that she put him on a pedestal, seeing him as a genius.
  • My grandma always put her prize-winning teapot on a velvet pedestal, but it was just dusty china.
  • The cat believed its owner put it on a pedestal of sunbeams and tuna, which was a pretty accurate assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Is putting someone on a pedestal always a bad thing?

While often associated with unrealistic expectations and potential disappointment, putting someone on a pedestal isn't inherently negative. It reflects deep admiration and respect, which can be a positive foundation for relationships, as long as it's balanced with realistic understanding.

What's the opposite of putting someone on a pedestal?

The opposite of putting someone on a pedestal is to 'demote' or 'disillusion' someone, meaning to see them stripped of their idealized status and viewed more realistically, often after a perceived flaw or mistake.

Can putting someone on a pedestal be harmful to the person being idealized?

Yes, being put on a pedestal can be burdensome, creating pressure to maintain an impossible standard of perfection and leading to anxiety when one inevitably falls short.

Does putting someone on a pedestal mean you worship them?

While the origin relates to worship, in modern usage, putting someone on a pedestal signifies extreme admiration and high regard, not literal religious devotion.

Similar to "put someone on a pedestal"

Hold someone in high esteem
Both capture profound admiration, but 'hold someone in high esteem' sounds more formal and measured, like a considered judgment rather than a breathless elevation
Worship the ground someone walks on
Both express extreme admiration, but 'worship the ground someone walks on' is far more effusive and almost devotional, suggesting an almost religious level of adoration, whereas 'pedestal' is more about idealized perception
Put someone on a cloud
Both phrases suggest elevating someone's status, but 'put someone on a cloud' carries a lighter, perhaps more whimsical or even delusional sense of elevation, tinted with a bit of unreality

Opposite of "put someone on a pedestal"

Take someone down a peg
This phrase argues for puncturing inflated egos, directly opposing the idea of elevating someone by suggesting that their perceived superiority needs to be dismantled, revealing an interesting tension about where someone truly belongs
See someone for who they really are
This counters the idealized view of the 'pedestal' by advocating for a clear-eyed, unvarnished assessment of a person's flaws and limitations, arguing that true understanding lies in acknowledging imperfection, not celebrating it
Drag someone through the mud
This stance argues for public humiliation and the destruction of reputation, a visceral opposite to placing someone on a pedestal, highlighting the dramatic potential for praise to turn into public condemnation

Related to "put someone on a pedestal"

Hero worship
This phrase shares the intense admiration found in 'put someone on a pedestal' but specifically links it to the veneration of heroic figures or idols
Idolatry
Both 'put someone on a pedestal' and 'idolatry' describe excessive admiration, but 'idolatry' leans into the uncritical, almost blindly devoted nature of that admiration
Fall from grace
This phrase is the dramatic consequence of being 'put on a pedestal,' highlighting the precariousness of such elevated positions and the severity of any subsequent downfall
Rose-tinted glasses
This idiom describes the biased perception that often leads someone to 'put someone on a pedestal,' suggesting that the admiration is fueled by an overly optimistic, perhaps unrealistic, view
Fall guy
While 'put someone on a pedestal' is about elevation, 'fall guy' is about being set up to take blame, showing the flip side of how people can be positioned, one for glory, the other for disgrace