tall poppy
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of tall poppy
First recorded in 1980–85; from an anecdote about Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, 7th century b.c., related in Herodotus
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.
He believes the UK suffers from "tall poppy syndrome" – where successful people are resented – and a negative culture.
From BBC • Dec. 28, 2025
“It gives me tall poppy syndrome a bit,” Madix says.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 29, 2024
Something very Australian about the band was that they were constantly self-effacing — perhaps trying to pre-empt the tall poppy syndrome that comes with success?
From New York Times • Jun. 21, 2017
He is critical of the country's so-called "tall poppy syndrome" - a tendency to disparage high achievers.
From BBC • Jul. 18, 2016
His presence brightened up society as a tall poppy brightens up all a sombre potato-plot, and his conversation brought strange lands and extraordinary events within one remove—a single pair of eyes and ears—of everybody's experience.
From Strangers at Lisconnel by Barlow, Jane
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
