out-Herod
[ out-her-uh d ]
/ ˌaʊtˈhɛr əd /
verb (used with object)
to outdo in extravagance, violence, or excess: His cruelty out-Herods Herod.
Example sentences from the Web for out-herod
They are bad copies of the Spaniards, whose failings they imitate and out-herod till they become odious vices.
I should like to out-Herod that puppy Rowland, and make a saint of myself out of a sinner.
Gladys, the Reaper |Anne BealeAn evil day for journalists and writers who do not out-Herod Blanqui and Pyat.
The Parisians, Complete |Edward Bulwer-Lytton
British Dictionary definitions for out-herod
out-Herod
verb
(tr)
to surpass in evil, excesses, or cruelty
Word Origin for out-Herod
C17: originally
out-Herod Herod, from Shakespeare's
Hamlet (act 3, scene 2); see also
Herod : portrayed in medieval mystery plays as a ranting tyrant