Meanings
plural Michael Jordans
- informalSomeone representing the highest level of achievement.
He [Sam Altman] is the “Michael Jordan of listening,” people have said.
2025, Karen Hao, Empire of AI, New York City: Penguin Press, →ISBN1 more example
Holbrook agrees, saying the Colombians they’ve met find it “embarrassing that we’re not talking about a hero, we’re talking about a criminal. But,” he concedes, “it is the Michael Jordan of criminals.”
2016 August 27, Luke Holland, “'The Michael Jordan of criminals': how Narcos found a true villain in Pablo Escobar”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Origin
Referring to American basketball player Michael Jordan (b. 1963).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Michael Jordan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Michael%20Jordan
“Michael Jordan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Michael%20Jordan. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Michael Jordan,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Michael%20Jordan.
Source: Michael Jordan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.