break the mould
Reject the standard
To break the mould is to do something in a new way that departs from established patterns or conventions.
The phrase comes from casting—once you break the mould, you can't produce identical copies.
Someone who breaks the mould challenges tradition or creates something unprecedented: She broke the mould for what a CEO could look like.
Often appears as mould-breaking or, in American spelling, mold.
- innovateIntroduce novel methods
- disruptInterrupt and disorder
- shake things upCause dramatic disruption
- transformChange completely in form
- game changerDecisive transformative factor
think outside the box · reshape · split · redefine · push the envelope · trailblazing · blaze a trail · iconoclasm · originality · revolutionize · nonconformity · go against the grain · modify · pioneering · new ground · remodel · ingenuity · change
break the mouldconform
Behave as expected
toe the line · follow the crowd · play by the rules · colour inside the lines · fit in
break, mould, mold, breaks, broken, breaking, breakage, breaker, outbreak