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in a good light

Idioms  
  1. Under favorable circumstances, as in They thought he'd make a wonderful mayor, but they'd only seen him in a good light, or The book portrayed their actions in a good light. Both this expression and its antonym, in a bad light, transfer physical light in which something can (or cannot) be seen clearly to figurative use. The literal terms date from the early 1500s.


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.

See Examples For:

“So I think being able to make the country smile and celebrate — and showing the country in a good light — just puts a smile on everyone’s faces.”

From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2023

They did put Tesla Autopilot in a good light: For the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla reported one crash per 4.31 million miles driven in cars equipped with Autopilot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2022

"Person D" told the panel he was asked by Mr Spencer to make "illegitimate amendments" to attendance data to "show the school in a good light" and that this "dishonest practice" continued with other staff.

From BBC ● May 13, 2022

"I did not think that my father would sell or leak the letter, primarily because it would not put him in a good light," she said.

From Reuters ● Nov. 10, 2021

The young man again settled himself in a good light and read as follows.

From All Men are Ghosts by L. P. (Lawrence Pearsall) Jacks

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