cut a wide swathe
Make significant impact
To cut a wide swathe is to make a dramatic impact or attract considerable attention, often by bold or destructive action.
The image comes from harvesting—a wide swathe is a broad strip cut through standing grain.
Someone who cuts a wide swathe through a field, industry, or social scene dominates it conspicuously: She cut a wide swathe through Hollywood in the nineties.
Also spelled swath.
- excelSurpass all others
- make wavesCause a disturbance
- imposeForce acceptance of
- impressAffect with admiration
- impactForceful contact or consequence
sweep · succeed · influence · charisma · larger than life · dominate · take charge · presence · audacity · footprint · renown · leave a mark · mow down · legacy · sway · noticeability · reputation · prevail
cut a wide swathefly under the radar
Evade attention deliberately
keep a low profile · tread lightly · go quietly · scratch the surface
cuts, cutting, cutter, cutters, wide, wider, widest, widely, widen