cut a figure

present singular third person cuts a figure · participle present cutting a figure

1. idiomaticTo present an image; to make an impression.

   To cut a fine/sorry figure.

   5 more examples

   Your desire was to cut a figure in the Fashionable World. Well, to-day you have your wish—to-day you are famous.

   1913, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 57, in The Amateur Gentleman

   Dirk Stroeve cut such an absurd figure that I felt inclined to laugh.

   1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 27”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

   As a leader of the free world the United States cuts an unconvincing figure with its racial segregation.

   1950, The Crisis, page 647

   Composed and genial, the Corries cut an impressive figure in the sun-drenched Haifa courthouse.

   2010 September 9, Karl Vick, “Israel's Military on the Spot Over Activist's Death”, in Time

   Standing in a field at an army barracks in Poznan, Poland, and wearing the black Stetson that is customary for the 2nd Cavalry, Colonel McChrystal cut a figure both commanding and incongruous.

   2024 April 24, Helene Cooper, “NATO Puts on a Show of Force in the Shadow of Russia’s War”, in The New York Times, →ISSN