View synonyms for

flash in the pan

Someone or something that promises great success but soon fails: “The rock group that was all the rage last year turned out to be just another flash in the pan.”

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Idioms and Phrases

An effort or person that promises great success but fails. For example, His second novel proved to be a flash in the pan, or We had high hopes for the new director, but she was a flash in the pan. This metaphoric term alludes to the 17th-century flintlock musket, which could be fired only when the flash of the priming powder in the lockpan ignited the charge in the bore. When it failed to ignite, there was only a flash in the pan and the gun did not shoot.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“The military aircraft, the troops at the border, the talk of drones: It’s all a flash in the pan,” he said.

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She’s far from the early days of her career, when many considered her defiance a gimmick, or refuted her as a flash in the pan.

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You can watch it and go, "Oh, you're just going home and you're just breaking up with these people. It's just a flash in the pan of your life," but it's a big moment.

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Dubois, 27, becomes a top dog in the glamour division, but 'Dynamite' is not a flash in the pan and has long been prophesied for heavyweight stardom.

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“It’s just been an alignment of many things that has created this incredible moment for women’s sports that seems to be more than just a flash in the pan.”

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flashing point flash lamp

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