Broke the mold is an idiom that may be older than you think. We will examine the meaning of the idiom broke the mold, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
Broke the mold is an idiom describing someone’s uniqueness. The image is of a mold being destroyed so that an item may not be duplicated. Usually expressed as they broke the mold when they made him, the second portion when they made him is usually left unspoken. The phrase they broke the mold affirms that there is no one in the world like that person and that no one can compare to that person. The phrase they broke the mold is almost always a term of admiration, the implication is that it is too bad that there are not more people who are like the person. The term they broke the mold may be expressed because of someone’s kindness, intelligence, patience, or any other positive attribute. The expression broke the mold came into use in the 1560s. The English spelling is broke the mould. Related phrases are break the mold, breaks the mold, breaking the mold.
Examples
They broke the mold with veteran actor Marcus LaVoi, currently starring in the Netflix horror/thriller, “Chambers,” about a Native American girl in New Mexico who gets a heart transplant — a haunted heart, as it turns out; LaVoi plays her gruff, kindly uncle. (Newsday)
“There’s an old saying, ‘ they broke the mold when they made him,’” noted Hanna Mayor Chris Warwick. (The Hanna Herald)
“He is the definition of ‘they broke the mold,’ in a lot of different ways,” current Byrnes head coach Layne Fowler said. (The Spartenburg Herald Journal)
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