Jekyll

be (a) Jekyll and Hyde

To have a personality that swings drastically between pleasant and intolerable. A reference to the main character of the book Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Ever since Kyle became a teenager, he's turned into a real Jekyll and Hyde, and it's impossible to anticipate his mood at any given time. Our coach was always Jekyll and Hyde on the field. If we were winning, he was your best friend, but if we were losing, he'd treat you like dirt. Before he went to rehab, Stan used to be Jekyll and Hyde every time he drank too much.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

Jekyll and Hyde

A person whose personality drastically changes between good and bad. A reference to the main character in the book Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. Ever since Kyle became a teenager, he's turned into a real Jekyll and Hyde, and it's impossible to anticipate his mood at any given time.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Jekyll and Hyde

someone with both an evil and a good personality. (From the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.) Bill thinks Mary is so soft and gentle, but she can be very cruel—she is a real Jekyll and Hyde. Jane doesn't know that Fred is a Jekyll and Hyde. She sees him only when he is being kind and generous, but he can be very cruel.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Jekyll and Hyde

A personality alternating between good and evil behavior, as in You never know whether Bob will be a Jekyll or a Hyde. This expression comes from Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). Also see lead a double life.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Jekyll and Hyde

a person alternately displaying opposing good and evil personalities.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ( 1886 ) is a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson , in which the physician Jekyll, in order to indulge his evil instincts, uses a drug to create the persona of Hyde, which at first he can assume at will but which gradually gains control of him.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a ˌJekyll and ˈHyde

a person with two separate personalities or ways of behaving, one good, pleasant, etc. and one evil, unpleasant, etc: He’s a real Jekyll and Hyde. At home he shouts at his wife and children all the time; at work he’s always charming and friendly.This comes from a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in which Dr Jekyll takes a drug which separates the good and bad sides of his personality into two characters. All the negative aspects go into the character of Mr Hyde.

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

Jekyll and Hyde

An individual who has two completely different sides, one very good and the other evil. The term comes from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), in which one character can switch from the good Dr. Jekyll to the evil Mr. Hyde by taking a drug. Leslie Purnell Davies defined it in The Shadow Before (1971), “We are all a mixture of good and evil, Jekyll and Hyde if you like.”

See also: and, Hyde, Jekyll

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer