Idiom idiom
outpope the Pope
Meaning
To act as a more authentic member of a group than one who is actually a member of the group.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He tries to out-pope the Pope by following every rule strictly.”
“The new employee is so eager to impress that he tries to out-pope the Pope by arriving an hour early every single day.”
“In his desperate attempt to gain favor with the traditionalists, the convert often out-popes the Pope, displaying a level of zeal that even the most devout members find excessive.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026