put on a pedestal

Verb

put on a pedestal (third-person singular simple present puts on a pedestal, present participle putting on a pedestal, simple past and past participle put on a pedestal)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To hold in very high esteem, especially to an exaggerated degree.
   • A group of young literary men—and one or two women—put him on a pedestal and kissed the earth before it.1905, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, “The Bell in the Fog”, in The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories
   • The months, even years, of allegations about President Clinton's private life seem to have toughened—and often exasperated—an electorate that now has more realistic expectations and is not as quick to put politicians on a pedestal.1998 April 19, Richard L. Berke, “In New Climate, More Politicians Surmount Imperfect Private Lives”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 Aug 2012

   Synonyms:

   cherish, glorify, idealize, idolize, pedestalize, revere, worship