in person

Idioms

Also, in the flesh. In one's physical presence, as in He applied for the job in person, or I couldn't believe it, but there she was, in the flesh. The first expression dates from the mid-1500s. The variant, from the 1300s, was long used to allude to the bodily resurrection of Jesus, but later acquired its looser meaning. Charles Dickens has it in Our Mutual Friend (1865): “The minutes passing on, and no Mrs. W. in the flesh appearing.”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ballots will be cast in person by delegates that had been selected to represent Conservative voters in each constituency across Canada.

From BBC

I had to see her genius in person.

From Los Angeles Times

I thought of her as a babysitter of sorts, although I never met the woman in person.

From Salon

“More people can actually see it in person and touch it and feel it. And then they want to get on.”

From Los Angeles Times

Supporting this, another poll found that 45% of men aged 18 to 25 have never approached a woman in person.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023