a class act
A person who excels or succeeds with impressive style or ability. At 73, the aging pop star proves that he's still a class act on the stage. With her tireless work for charities and activist groups, the team's captain is a true class act both on the field and off. Tom has always been a class act, so professional and well mannered.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
class act
n. a high-quality act; a high-quality way of doing things. The prof puts on a real class act, but he grades very hard.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
class act
Elegant, refined, tasteful. The use of “class” in this sense originated in the second half of the 1800s in sports, where it described an athlete with such admirable qualities. In the second half of the 1900s, “act” was added and the term was used in the entertainment industry. A Boston Globe editorial had it: “Conan O’Brien: A Class Act Comes Home” (June 5, 2010), expanding “O’Brien has come across as a class act throughout the machinations that led NBC to have him replace fellow Bay Stater Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show, then renege after Leno’s 10 p.m. replacement show bombed.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer