feet of clay

American  

noun

1. a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person.

   He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay.

2. any unexpected or critical fault.

---

feet of clay Cultural  

1. People are said to have “feet of clay” if they are revealed to have a weakness or flaw that most people were unaware of: “When the coach was arrested for drunken driving, the students realized that their hero had feet of clay.”

---

feet of clay Idioms  

1. A failing or weakness in a person's character, as in The media are always looking for a popular idol's feet of clay. This expression comes from the Bible (Daniel 2:31–33), where the prophet interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue with a head of gold and feet of iron clay. [c. 1600]

---

Etymology

Origin of feet of clay

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

"The economic recovery, which is built on feet of clay, is thus beginning to falter," the survey said.

From Reuters • May 8, 2023

Other crypto assets that depicted themselves as havens of reliability have turned out to have figurative feet of clay.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2022

PSG are described by someone who deals regularly with them as a "club with feet of clay, outwardly strong but with severe weakness under the surface".

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2022

I believe that Egypt has feet of clay in the Arab world.

From Washington Post • Aug. 8, 2021

He and the other boys run around in the mud; large extra feet of clay stick to the soles of their boots, leaving tracks like monsters.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood