bear a charmed life
obsolete cliché To lead a life characterized or seemingly protected by exceptionally good fortune or luck, without (or rarely) encountering trouble, harm, or misfortune. Lady Mary bears a charmed life and knows nothing of the wants of the common folk. The general rode out into battle as if he bore a charmed life, charging through the hail of bullets and artillery with reckless abandon. My, you bear a charmed life if you've never known serious illness. Few of us are so lucky.
charmed life
A life characterized or seemingly protected by marked good fortune or luck, without (or rarely) encountering trouble, danger, or misfortune. Often preceded by the verbs "lead," "live," or "have." Celebrities seem to have a rather charmed life, with everything handed to them on a silver platter. Other than minor colds, I've never been ill in my life. I guess I've just led a charmed life. I know you want to shield your kids from pain, but it's not good for them to lead a charmed life either.
lead a charmed life
To lead a life characterized or seemingly protected by marked good fortune or luck, without (or rarely) encountering trouble, danger, or misfortune. Celebrities seem to lead a rather charmed life, with everything handed to them on a silver platter. Other than minor colds, I've never been ill in my life. I guess I've just led a charmed life.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
charmed life
An existence that seems protected by extreme good luck, as in Robert came out of that accident without a scratch; he must lead a charmed life. The adjective charmed once meant "magical," which is no doubt what Shakespeare had in mind when he used the term in Macbeth (5:8): "Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests, I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born." Later it was extended to anyone who narrowly escaped from danger or was similarly lucky. [Late 1500s]
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.
charmed life, to bear (lead) a
To be extremely lucky, to emerge from danger unscathed. The term probably was invented by Shakespeare, for whom charmed had the significance of “magical.” Thus Macbeth proclaims he is magically protected against death (“I bear a charmed life, which must not yield to one of woman born,” 5.7) but is nevertheless slain by Macduff, who “was from his mother’s womb untimely ripped.” The expression was transferred to less combative affairs and said of anyone who escaped unfortunate consequences. It was a cliché by the mid-nineteenth century.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer