feel like a million bucks
feel like a million bucks,
also, feel like a million dollars
Meaning
- describes a state of peak physical well-being and high energy.
- conveys a sense of immense joy and confidence.
- evokes a sense of emotional richness and indulgence.
- indicates high self-esteem and confidence in one’s appearance.
- reflects a sense of pride and satisfaction from achievements.
- encapsulates the feeling of rejuvenation and replenishment.
- encompasses a broad range of uplifting emotions, often from extraordinary experiences.
Example Sentences
- After my morning run and a healthy breakfast, I feel like a million bucks.
- She felt like a million dollars after acing her final exams and receiving praise from her professors.
- With the spa day and the gourmet dinner, I felt like a million bucks, even if just for a day.
- Closing that major deal made him feel like a million bucks; all his hard work had finally paid off.
- After a week-long vacation at the beach, I returned to work feeling like a million dollars.
- Upon witnessing his surprise birthday party, surrounded by friends and family, he felt like a million dollars.
Origin and History
The idiom “feel like a million bucks (or dollars)” originated in the United States in the early 20th century. The phrase capitalizes on the concept of a million dollars representing a significant amount of wealth, which, in turn, symbolizes an extraordinary state of well-being or excellence.
The phrase’s earliest documented use appears to have been in the early 1900s. For instance, an article in the “New York Evening World” in 1902 used the phrase to express a heightened state of feeling good:
“I feel like a million dollars was a way to describe feeling elated or in top form.”
The choice of “a million dollars” as the benchmark for this idiom likely stems from the enormous value and status associated with such a sum of money, especially in the early 20th century, when a million dollars was a far more considerable amount than it is today. This use of hyperbole effectively conveys the speaker’s positive emotions by equating them to the grandiosity of a million dollars.
Variant
The idioms “feel like a million bucks” and “look like a million bucks” are closely related and share a similar origin, both emerging in the early 20th century in the United States.
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