pale by comparison

pale by comparison

To be or seem less important, impressive, or otherwise deficient when compared to someone or something else. The film was enjoyable, but it pales by comparison to the original. Though that issue is indeed serious, it pales by comparison with the threat of drug abuse that is tearing the country apart.
See also: by, comparison, pale
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

pale by comparison

 and pale in comparison
Fig. to appear to be deficient in comparison to something else. My work pales by comparison with yours. You are a real pro.
See also: by, comparison, pale
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • pale in comparison
  • pale next to (someone or something)
  • pale beside
  • pale beside (someone or something)
  • pale beside/next to something
  • in comparison
  • by comparison
  • cat's pajamas
  • pajama
  • the cat's pajamas
References in periodicals archive
Makes your own battles with the garden privet pale by comparison, doesn't it?
Following them was never going to be easy for French Wives - and, as it turned out, their set did pale by comparison.
Your recent articles on immigration have been excellent, but if the government grabs control of our food supply, issues such as immigration will pale by comparison. Please continue to follow the NAIS issue and keep us informed!
All other job challenges pale by comparison! However, ironically, some of the most difficult job challenges have yielded the best lessons.
Best are hard-rock hits Blackout and Bad Boys Running Wild, which blazed a trail for The Darkness, but more recent attempts to turn back the clock, such as Mysterious, pale by comparison. PC
Beads, doubloons, and trinkets galore tossed from ornate floats by festooned and costumed people made most other parades pale by comparison. Hordes of faithful who made the pilgrimage to New Orleans and lined the processional routes reached toward the heavens to snag some of the many and varied relics of Mardi Gras.
Compared to this, the other unique items in the cabin pale by comparison, though they point toward how Lincoln will differentiate its products from its less costly kin.
Resembling a raised indoor swimming pool with some two dozen movable parts spread out across its shimmering Plexiglas surface, the thirty-year-old "variable" sculpture radiated a visual audacity that made much of the current work around it pale by comparison. Ersatz scoring cues brushed up against cutouts of historical and pop-culture figures, who in turn seemed to jostle dismembered cartoon limbs and partial anatomies.
The environmental and security risks posed by these vast arsenals make the India-Pakistan nuclear problem pale by comparison.
The expenses of lift equipment and staff reorganization begin to pale by comparison.
This view made even my Grand Canyon experience pale by comparison. Outside our galaxy!
Clinical psychologist Rachel Persico's reflections on growing up in Israel pale by comparison, especially since the Ashkenazic discovery of the "equality bluff" is old hat.
While L/T court may seem like the worst of all possible worlds, starting with how the courts are set up, and ending with the fundamental bias of the system against landlords, the procedural inconveniences of trial by jury actually make the indignities of L/T court pale by comparison.
Through contemplation, prayer and solitude, he has lived a life so full and gratifying that any secular life would pale by comparison. His book is the footnotes to his life.
Ultimately though, the inadequacies of the volume as a state-of-the-art scholarly edition pale by comparison to the significant achievement that its long-awaited completion represents.