tall poppy
noun informal, chiefly Australian /NZ
A person who is conspicuously successful and whose success frequently attracts envious hostility: this is a nation that likes to win, but it also prides itself on its tendency to cut down tall poppies...
- Finns don't cut tall poppies down to size.
- In 2002, the world-renowned manager and prototypical tall poppy, retired.
- Aussies rarely lose their sense of humour and love to poke fun at pomposity and 'tall poppies'.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from an obsolete sense of poppy1 'a conspicuous or prominent person or thing', probably with reference to Tarquinius Superbus, a king of ancient Rome who demonstrated how to deal with potential enemies by cutting off the heads of the tallest poppies in his garden (Livy 1.54.6).