cutting down to size
Reducing inflated self-importance
Cutting down to size is deflating someone's ego or reducing their perceived importance, usually when they've become arrogant or overestimate their standing: The senior partners cut him down to size after he started acting like he ran the place.
The image is of trimming something oversized back to proper proportions.
- chopQuick forceful slice
- dethroneRemove from sovereignty
- embarrassCause social discomfort
- humbleUnassuming about oneself
- bring lowCause to fall
minimize · knock down a peg · take down a notch · deflate · burst the bubble · equalize · trim · prune · whittle · demote · put in place · scale back · reprimand · shear · rebuke · discredit · pare down · shame
cutting down to sizeflattery
Excessive insincere praise
puffing up · building up · putting on a pedestal · aggrandizing · bigging up
cutting down to sizeoverrating
Valuing beyond merit
overestimating · overpraising · obsequiousness · blowing smoke · laying it on thick
cutting down to sizeglorifying
Praising to excess
lionizing · exalting · lauding · venerating · celebrating
cutter, cutters, cutting, cuttings, downer, downers, sizable, sizeable, outsized