Meaning of Idiom ‘A Cut Above’
1.To be a cut above is to be better than other people or things, especially those that are similar.
2. To be superior.
3. To be of higher quality.
The idiom can be used as a standalone statement but is often used to compare a person or thing to other persons or things of a similar nature.
See also the related idiom cut the mustard.
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Sentence Examples
“He has terrible bedside manner but as a surgeon, he is a cut above”
“Fred was always a cut above the other students.”
“The camera on the new phone is a cut above previous technology.”
‘ I think that you, Miss Austen, consider yourself a cut above the company.” — Becoming Jane (2007)
“Ah, now this one must be very profound. The Ethics of Aristotle. Ow anybody that read that must believe he’s a cut above anybody that hadn’t.” — Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
“Maybe it’s horseshit so that we can fancy ourselves a cut above the thugs and the gangsters of the world.” — The Art of the Steal (2014)
“It isn’t much, sir, but it’s a cut above emptying piss-pots.” — The Madness of King George (1995)
“He seemed a cut above the others. There was something different about him. A special quality.” — Bedazzled (1967)
Origin of A Cut Above
In use since the early 1800’s. It originally had variations such as “above my cut” which is today reflected in “above my pay grade” and similar idioms. It is not clear what kind of cut is meant to be referenced in the idiom. One speculation is that it refers to fashion, where clothing of the finest “cut” would be the best, most well-fitted and shapely clothing.
Another theory is that the idiom refers to the baking of bread over coals, where the the bread sliced, or cut, from the top of the loaf would be better than the charred bread on the bottom of the loaf.
Yet another theory, proposed by poster Pamela at Phrases.org, who speculates that a cut above refers to notches or cuts on a tally board:
Think of a tally-board, with, say, numbers or values represented by cuts in a wooden board, or the equivalent as a measure of degree. “He was a cut above me in _______.” Fill in the blank. Think of a cut as the space between two marks on a tally-board. This may be totally off, but I don’t think that’s proved by the fact that nobody says “She’s two cuts above me.”
There is nothing proven by the absence of an idiom, but, in truth, we do understand the exact allusion in this idiom.
More Idioms Starting with A
More Above Idioms
More Cut Idioms
- Fish Or Cut Bait
- Cut the Mustard
- Cut From the Same Cloth
- Cut and Run
- Running Around Like a Chicken With its Head Cut Off