object lesson

noun

1. a practical or concrete illustration of a principle.

object lesson

noun

1. a convincing demonstration of some principle or ideal

2. (esp formerly) a lesson in which a material object forms the basis of the teaching and is available to be inspected

Word History and Origins

Origin of object lesson¹

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

He gave a television interview that was so legendarily awful it’s become an object lesson in how not to start a campaign.

From Los Angeles Times

Asked whether Perry’s flop 2024 album “143” served as a kind of object lesson — a cautionary tale, perhaps, regarding the challenges in moving between TV and music — Underwood said, “I don’t really think about it.”

From Los Angeles Times

But it’s actually more like an object lesson, or a warning to those who insist that whatever else may go wrong, a stable and established liberal democracy cannot collapse into chaos, dictatorship or civil war.

From Salon

Put it all together, and the Boeing story looks like an object lesson in what happens when management takes its eye off the ball — or more precisely, puts it eye on the wrong ball.

From Los Angeles Times

South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, is an object lesson in the conflict between two competing theories of how we should think about racism in America today.

From Seattle Times