have the makings of

Idioms  

1. Have the abilities or qualities needed to become something, as in She has the makings of a fine teacher, or, as Shakespeare put it in Henry VIII (4:1): “She had all the royal makings of a Queen.” [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

Throw that whole concoction into the most intense playoff environment imaginable, and you have the makings of a bright, shiny bandwagon.

From Seattle Times

The Commanders, in many respects, have the makings of a team on the rise.

From Washington Post

Movies as strong as “Fair Play” and “Magazine Dreams,” which jolted the festival’s U.S. dramatic competition to life on Friday afternoon, might even convince you they have the makings of a potential breakout, even if the fraught economics of the movie industry — driven home by recent news of widespread Regal Cinemas theater closures across the U.S., six of them in Southern California — tell a much more depressing story.

From Los Angeles Times

If you check that map against historical data — in this case, two years of pandemic experience in 93 counties — and update it accordingly, you may have the makings of a forecasting system for disease outbreaks.

From Los Angeles Times

Leap says the creators have the makings of a potential game changer — “but they’ve got to put some meat on the bones.”

From Los Angeles Times