putting on a pedestal
Glorifying beyond reason
To put someone on a pedestal is to idealize or admire them excessively, treating them as flawless or superior: She put her older sister on a pedestal growing up.
The image is of a statue elevated for veneration.
The phrase often carries a warning—people on pedestals inevitably disappoint: He put her on a pedestal, and when she turned out to be human, he couldn't handle it.
- admireRegard with approval
- idolizeRevere to excess
- venerateHonor with deep respect
- romanticizationPortraying as more appealing
- halo effectSingle trait skews perception
worship · idealization · lionization · larger than life · social hierarchy · celebrity culture · reverence · mythologizing · deification · projection · elevation · fandom · infatuation · enshrinement · glorification · obsession · sanctification · stan
- looking up toadmiring, respecting, revering, idolizing, venerating
putting on a pedestaltearing down
dragging through the mud · vilifying · demonizing · disparaging · denigrating
putting on a pedestalhumbling
Diminishing one's pride
cutting down to size · degrading · debasing · taking down a peg · tearing down
putting, pedestal, pedestals, pedal, pedals, pedestrian, pedestrians, bipedal, quadruped