tall poppy
One who has a lot of wealth, fame, or social prominence. She may be a tall poppy, as you describe her, but she never flaunts her wealth or treats others with disrespect.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
a tall poppy
a privileged or distinguished person. The Roman tyrant Tarquin was reputed to have struck off the heads of poppies as a gruesomely graphic demonstration of the way in which the important men of a captured city should be treated. In recent years, the term tall poppy syndrome has also developed, referring to a tendency to discredit or disparage people who have become rich, famous, or socially prominent.
1991 Lynn Barber Mostly Men Journalists on the whole tend to be egalitarian-minded and contemptous of tall poppies, but I prefer the prima donnas.
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