Rate this phrase:5.0 / 1 vote

kill with kindness

heaping generosity, compassion, or excessive favor on someone -usually in response to an insult- to bring them discomfort; to overwhelm with overindulgence

Etymology:

  • Shakespearean idiom which sprang up to describe the phenomenon, noticed around the 15th century, of female chimpanzees showing particularly attentive behavior toward their young (cuddling their infants too closely which sometimes led to injury or smothering of the infants) that was seen as killing with excess love and affection.
85 Views

The supermarket cashier saw his share of rudeness from customers and rather than admonishing them, he chose to go another route and kill them with kindness.

Submitted by JokerGem on January 21, 2023

Translation

Find a translation for the kill with kindness phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to kill with kindness

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this kill with kindness phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this kill with kindness definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "kill with kindness." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/kill-with-kindness_63290>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    You're as wise as an _____.
    A old man
    B ant
    C owl
    D unicorn