howling success

Idioms  

1. A tremendous triumph, as in Their first play was a howling success. This colloquial expression employs howling in the sense of “very pronounced” or “glaring,” a usage dating from the mid-1800s.

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Example Sentences

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howling success

To help Ball with State's paper work, Kennedy named George McGhee, an able administrator who had been less than a howling success as State's Counselor and Policy.

From Time Magazine Archive

After all, I Was a Teenage Werewolf was a howling success at the box office last year.

From Time Magazine Archive

From the U. S. Treasury's standpoint, the excess-profits tax of 1918 was a howling success.

From Time Magazine Archive

After seven weeks of howling success on the air, radio's newest star is disgusted.

From Time Magazine Archive

The thing was, though, there was almost nothing in the twenty-seven volumes about the Dresden raid, even though it had been such a howling success.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut