Idiom
broken vessel
Meaning
A person who is destroyed or forgotten, or who feels flawed or broken.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He feels like a broken vessel after losing his job.”
“After the scandal, the politician felt like a broken vessel, unable to face his former supporters.”
“The aging poet wandered the streets, a broken vessel of lost dreams and forgotten verses, mourning the life he once led.”
Examples
simple
“He feels like a broken vessel after losing his job.”
contextual
“After the scandal, the politician felt like a broken vessel, unable to face his former supporters.”
complex
“The aging poet wandered the streets, a broken vessel of lost dreams and forgotten verses, mourning the life he once led.”
Origin
Derived from Old Testament symbolism, in which human beings are likened to clay vessels. The term draws upon the biblical imagery of a container that has lost its utility through damage.
Key words
Related idioms
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