Word.ws English Dictionary

take the wind out of someone's sails

take the wind out of someone's sails verb: to discourage someone greatly; to cause someone to lose hope or the will to continue; to thwart or minimize someone's ambitions.

Verb

take the wind out of someone's sails (third-person singular simple present takes the wind out of someone's sails, present participle taking the wind out of someone's sails, simple past took the wind out of someone's sails, past participle taken the wind out of someone's sails)

  1. (idiomatic) To discourage someone greatly; to cause someone to lose hope or the will to continue; to thwart or minimize someone's ambitions.
    • "I tell you Van Bahr Lamb is a fool." […]
      But Polly […] completely took the wind out of her sails, by coolly remarking,— "I like fools."c. 1860, Louisa May Alcott, Aunt Kipp
    • Could he have some elderly idea of wanting a youngster for a wife? Occasionally an old chap did. Serve him right if some young chap took the wind out of his sails.1922, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter 31, in The Head of the House of Coombe

Synonyms of take the wind out of someone's sails

All synonyms of take the wind out of someone's sails

Forms of take the wind out of someone's sails

third-person singular presenttakes the wind out of someone's sails
present participletaking the wind out of someone's sails
pasttook the wind out of someone's sails
past participletaken the wind out of someone's sails
alternative formknock the wind out of someone's sails

Origin of take the wind out of someone's sails

Referring to the idea of a ship that intercepts the wind of another, causing it to slow or stop.

Questions about take the wind out of someone's sails

What does take the wind out of someone's sails mean?
Take the wind out of someone's sails means to discourage someone greatly; to cause someone to lose hope or the will to continue; to thwart or minimize someone's ambitions.
What part of speech is take the wind out of someone's sails?
Take the wind out of someone's sails is a verb.
What is the past tense of take the wind out of someone's sails?
The past tense of take the wind out of someone's sails is took the wind out of someone's sails.

Words near take the wind out of someone's sails in the dictionary

  1. take the waters
  2. take the wax out of one's ears
  3. take the weight off
  4. take the weight off one's feet
  5. take the wheel
  6. take the wind out of someone's sails
  7. take the words out of someone's mouth
  8. take the wrong turn at Albuquerque
  9. take the wrong way
  10. take time
  11. take time by the forelock

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: take the wind out of someone's sails (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-take the wind out of someone's sails.ogg.

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