a dead ringer for someone

dead ringer for (someone or something)

A person or thing that bears a strong resemblance to someone or something else. Susie was such a dead ringer for Kate Winslet that sometimes people would ask her for her autograph. The budget company is known for producing accessories that look like dead ringers for those made by the top brands.

See also: dead, for, ringer

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

a dead ringer for someone

INFORMAL

COMMON If you say that one person is a dead ringer for another, you mean that the first person looks or sounds exactly like the second. He's tall, dark and a dead-ringer for Robert Pattinson. Kovic is extraordinary in one respect: he's a dead ringer for the former US President. Note: The word `ringer' may originally have come from a name for dishonest traders at fairs who sold brass rings, pretending they were gold. In American horse racing, a `ringer' is a horse that has been dishonestly substituted for another in a race.

See also: dead, for, ringer, someone

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012