fair-haired boy

fair-haired boy

Someone who is given preferential treatment. The phrase does not have to describe a young male, despite using the word "boy." My oldest brother is definitely the fair-haired boy in our family—he can do no wrong as far as our parents are concerned.
See also: boy
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fair-haired boy

Fig. a favored person. (Not necessarily young or a boy.) The teacher's fair-haired boy always does well on tests. The supervisor's son was the fair-haired boy on the construction site.
See also: boy
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

fair-haired boy

A favorite, a person who is given special treatment. For example, Today the attorney general is the governor's fair-haired boy. This term alludes to the preference of blond ("fair") hair over dark hair. [Late 1800s]
See also: boy
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

fair-haired boy

n. a promising young man; a young man who receives favoritism. Ted is the boss’s fair-haired boy now, but he’ll be just like the rest of us in a month.
See also: boy
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

fair-haired boy

The current favorite, the individual singled out for special treatment. This male counterpart of “gentlemen prefer blondes” comes from the late nineteenth century. “The old crowd of Fair-haired Correspondent Boys who hung to the ear of President Roosevelt” appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1909.
See also: boy
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • haired
  • (as) sure as eggs (is eggs)
  • kicking and screaming
  • the chosen few
  • 57
  • Heinz
  • Heinz 57
  • Heinz 57 (variety)
  • Heinz 57 variety
  • great minds
References in periodicals archive
In Cincinnati he was the fair-haired boy who had gone from promotion to promotion, but his heart was humble and open.
Don't miss the second half; the editors interview Father Richard Rohr, O.F.M
Galtieri was a graduate of the infamous US Amry School of the Americas, at that time based in Panama, which gave him connections with high-ranking US military and the illusion that he was Washington's fair-haired boy. However, US President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988) sided with close friend British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the conflict.
ARGENTINA: FORMER DICTATOR LEOPOLDO GALTIERI DIES
They should be: Hekmatyar was once the CIA's fair-haired boy in Afghanistan, trained to lead the anti-Soviet mujahideen forces and groomed to be the leader of Afghanistan after the Soviets left.
Meet the Real Northern Alliance: Anti-Taliban forces are portrayed by the major media as gallant "freedom fighters," yet various factions are guilty of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to civilian massacres. (Afghanistan)
Then, in the spring of 1902, Gaapiatan decided it was time to reveal how his uncle, Fair-Haired Boy, obtained the Bird Shield.
'I Am Medicine' - The Sacred Bird Shield of the Kiowa
Betty Maxwell-Carter said the sickening video showed the diminutive Rab C Nesbitt star with a terrified, fair-haired boy of about 12.
CULLEN ASKED ME TO GET RID OF SEX VIDEO; It showed Rab C star
But she walked out in disgust after an emotional Cullen asked her to "dispose" of the tape, showing him having full sex with a terrified, fair-haired boy of around 12, which, he claimed, could send him away for years.
WEE BURNEY ...THE VILE TRUTH; He filmed himself copying Children's Panel sex crimes
Much has been made in this column of the problems faced by the nursing home industry, but the fact is that assisted living--long-term care's "fair-haired boy"--has come in for its own share of lumps of late.
What Is Assisted Living?
As one embassy official described it for me at the height of the disappearances: "Prabowo is our fair-haired boy; he's the one who can do no wrong." In fact, Prabowo's units that participated in the disappearances -- particularly KOPASSUS Group 4, which U.S.
Our men in Jakarta
He considers himself to have been a relative outsider, since he had come to Harvard only as a graduate student; yet he acknowledges that he was a "fair-haired boy" who held an administrative position in one of the undergraduate residences and served on the disciplinary committee which was elected to cope with any punishments to be meted out to the students involved.
Coming apart: a memoir of the Harvard wars of 1969
She gave the fair-haired boy leather jackets and other gifts - and promised him expensive holidays abroad.
23-STONE TEACHER'S LESSONS IN BONDAGE FOR BOY, 15
If Morgan is the fair-haired boy in Rogers's scheme of things, then Chase Manhattan is the bumbling giant in this financial market tableau.
The Future of American Banking: Managing for Change
In an especially useful clarification, Small isolates the distinctive principle of the Aesthetic school as a disconnection of aesthetic experience from particular classes of artefact designated as works of art: beauty being now in the nerve-ends of the beholder, a sunset, an orchid, or a fair-haired boy would serve just as well as a cathedral, a symphony, or a blank-verse tragedy, and indeed would have the additional appeal of not being the territorial preserve of a specialist pedant.
Conditions for Criticism: Authority, Knowledge, and Literature in the Late Nineteenth Century
There's no doubt that HBA is non-foods' fair-haired boy. And more.
Healthier than ever
"I was assured of a big fight in the Canelo fight in May," said Duno, who captured the heart of De La Hoya when he knocked out highly-touted Mexican Christian Gonzalez, GBP's fair-haired boy, in 2017.
Duno revs up for huge May fight in Vegas
The fair-haired boy was arrested seven hours after the attack.
PURE EVIL; BOY, 12, WHO RAPED TEACHER LOCKED AWAY FOR LIFE He was drinking and smoking at three,simulating sex with his teddy,and abused by his mother who used heroin in front of him