Meanings
- idiomaticA step or action that is too ambitious; an act of overreaching.
Restricting Telegram seems to have been a bridge too far for many Russians.
2026 June 8, Andrei Zakharov, “Putin Restricted the Internet. It Has Not Gone to Plan.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN2 more examples
Cloning was an interesting concept. Cloning body parts was again just man's search for immortality riding on the back of naive altruistic medicinal benevolence. But cloning a person was a bridge too far.
2006, Adair Broughton, Crossing the Bridge of Infinity, page 40“Maybe we are seeing a similar phenomenon with NFTs — but it could be a bridge too far for people with collections in other media.”
2021 April 28, Zachary Small, quoting William Goetzmann, “As Auctioneers and Artists Rush Into NFTs, Many Collectors Stay Away”, in New York Times
Origin
In reference to Operation Market Garden, Allied airborne military operation of 1944. General Roy E. Urquhart, in his 1958 memoir Arnhem, ascribed the phrase to general Frederick “Boy” Browning. It was popularized by being chosen as the title of Cornelius Ryan’s 1974 book on Operation Market Garden and the subsequent 1977 epic war film.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 好高騖遠 /好高骛远
- 好高騖遠 /好高骛远 (hàogāowùyuǎn)step that is too ambitious
Finnish askel liian pitkälle
- askel liian pitkällestep that is too ambitious
Cite this entry
a bridge too far. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20bridge%20too%20far
“a bridge too far.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20bridge%20too%20far. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “a bridge too far,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a%20bridge%20too%20far.
Source: a bridge too far on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.