takes the wind out of someone's sails
takes the wind out of someone's sails is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take the wind out of someone's sails.
Meaning of take the wind out of someone's sails
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)
- 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
- "I tell you Van Bahr Lamb is a fool." […]
Questions about takes the wind out of someone's sails
- What is takes the wind out of someone's sails the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
- Takes the wind out of someone's sails is the third-person singular simple present indicative of take the wind out of someone's sails.
Words near takes the wind out of someone's sails in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: takes the wind out of someone's sails (page history and authors); 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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