# Benjamin Button

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/benjamin-button
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To seemingly age in reverse; to appear younger, either through changes in appearance or one's personality and lifestyle.

## Examples

- He looks like he is pulling a Benjamin Button.
- You are pulling a Benjamin Button in that new photograph.
- After changing his diet and style, he looks so much younger that his friends joke he is pulling a Benjamin Button.
- My grandmother is pulling a Benjamin Button because she has more energy and modern hobbies now than she did twenty years ago.
- Since he retired and started traveling, he seems to be pulling a Benjamin Button by acting like a carefree teenager again.
- The actor seems to be pulling a Benjamin Button, as his appearance today is remarkably more youthful than it was a decade ago.

## Origin

The term refers to the title character of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a short story published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1922. It concerns a man who enters the world in a state of advanced seniority and subsequently ages in reverse. The name has since attached itself to individuals who appear to possess a similarly inverted relationship with the passage of time.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.