late bloomer
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late bloomer
1. A child or adolescent who develops physically at a later point than is typical for their age. She's still quite small for a ninth grader, but I think she's just a late bloomer.
2. Someone who develops their talents or capabilities later than is typical among their peers. It took my brother until he was 35, but he finally found a stable career that he loves. I guess he was just a late bloomer. She was a bit of a train wreck all throughout her undergraduate degree, but she turned out to be a late bloomer because now she's one of the leading academics in her field.
See also: late
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
late bloomer
1. Lit. a plant that blooms later than similar plants or that blooms late in the season. There are a few late bloomers in the garden, but by fall, we don't care much anymore about flowers.
2. Fig. a person who finally develops a useful or superior skill or talents later than expected or desired. Joseph was a late bloomer, but turned out to be a formidable scholar in the long run.
See also: late
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
late bloomer
A person who matures or achieves some goal more slowly than his or her peers. This cliché transfers the tendency of certain plants to bloom late in the growing season to human beings who are late to achieve their potential: for example, “He didn’t marry until he was in his mid-forties, a late bloomer if there ever was one.” The noun bloomer for a plant dates only from the first half of the eighteenth century, and the cliché from the twentieth century.
See also: late
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer