kills one's darlings

A form of kill one's darlings — To destroy things or characters, particularly in art, of which one is fond, often reluctantly in order to improve one's artistic output.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verb
  1. indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of kill one's darlings
Cite this entry
APA

kills one's darlings. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kills%20one's%20darlings

MLA

“kills one's darlings.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kills%20one's%20darlings. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kills one's darlings,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kills%20one's%20darlings.

Source: kills one's darlings on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.