a pillar of society

a pillar of society

or

a pillar of the community

If you describe someone as a pillar of society or a pillar of the community, you mean that they are an active and respected member of a group of people. He is a pillar of society, the son every mother would love to have. My father had been a pillar of the community.

See also: of, pillar, society

a pillar of society

a person regarded as a particularly responsible citizen.

The use of pillar to mean ‘a person regarded as a mainstay or support for something’ is recorded from medieval times; Pillars of Society was the English title of an 1888 play by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen .

See also: of, pillar, society