build character
To improve a person's character by developing personality traits such as resilience or responsibility.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Doing difficult chores helps you build character.”
“My father always said that working a summer job in the heat would build character.”
“Although the grueling training program was exhausting, the coach insisted that the struggle would ultimately build character in his young athletes.”
- 01
build a better mousetrap
To create a new product, method, or idea that is better than an existing version of something already common or widely used.
- 02
build a case
to compile evidence that supports a charge against someone.
- 03
build bridges
Often followed by between or to: to establish friendly relations or links.
- 04
build castles in the air
To have any desire, idea, or plan that is unlikely to be realized; to imagine visionary projects or schemes; to have an idle fancy or a pipe dream; to daydream.
- 05
build on sand
To put something in an unstable position by failing to give it a secure foundation.
- 06
build the plane while flying it
To develop one's approach or strategy to a project while carrying out that project, and not beforehand.
- 07
build up
To accumulate: to increase incrementally or continually.
- 08
built different
Able to do things which others cannot; extremely talented or unusual.
Last updated August 10, 2026