Meaning
Measurably or dramatically better, taller or more impressive than everyone or everything else in a comparison. Applied to quality, ability, performance or reputation rather than physical size, and it asserts clear, obvious superiority rather than a narrow margin. Neutral to admiring; emphasizes emphatic, undisputed superiority. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates the figurative use to the mid-1800s and describes it as transferring physical stature to other kinds of status: someone literally taller by a head and shoulders over a crowd is unmistakably conspicuous, and the phrase applies that measurable margin to merit. The OED documents the compound 'head-and-shoulders' from 1822, in the writing of the bibliographer Thomas F. Dibdin, though that early record covers literal uses such as head-and-shoulders portraits. Commentators sometimes link the idea to the biblical description of Saul towering above the people, but the dictionary record rests on the stature metaphor rather than on scripture, so the comparison is decorative rather than evidential.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- be head and shoulders above
- head and shoulders above the rest
- head and shoulders better than
- stand head and shoulders above
Usage Examples
- Her dissertation stands head and shoulders above the others submitted this year.
- The young goalkeeper was head and shoulders above every striker he faced.
- Their customer service is head and shoulders above that of their rivals.