wear the pants

Idioms

Exercise controlling authority in a household, as in Grandma wears the pants at our house. This idiom, generally applied to women and dating from the mid-1500s, a time when they wore only skirts, equates pants with an authoritative and properly masculine role. Originally put as wear the breeches, it remains in use despite current fashions.

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.

The recipient is expected to wear the shoes and perform gratitude.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

And then when we finally got the shoes, I could wear the shoes whenever we rehearsed so I could feel comfortable in them.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2024

Captain Pat Cummins and Australia's sport minister have supported Khawaja, but he will no longer wear the shoes.

From BBC • Dec. 13, 2023

That doesn’t help athletes who can’t wear the shoes they would like in competition.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 17, 2023

She was so pained at the waste of money that she couldn’t enjoy any of the new things, though she was pressed to wear the shoes home.

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023