sunset
ride (off) into the sunset
To resolve or conclude things in a neat, happy, and satisfactory fashion; to retire from work, use, or relevance, especially on a positive note or after a long and successful period of activity. An allusion to the clichéd endings of western movies, often showing the main characters riding horseback into the sunset at the conclusion of the film. Often used sarcastically, ironically, or humorously. Despite the turbulence in the first few years, the president is now riding off into the sunset with a huge approval rating and a whole host of policies enacted under his watch. I'm tired of comedies that see everyone just ride into the sunset at the end. How about showing some realistic consequences for the things these types of characters do?
See also: ride, sunset
sunset years
The final years of a person's life, especially those spent in retirement. The economic crash has been especially devastating to the retired and the elderly, whose pensions they had been expecting to live off of in their sunset years have now evaporated in a matter of days.
See also: sunset, year
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
one's sunset years
Euph. one's old age. Many people in their sunset years love to travel. Now is the time to think about financial planning for your sunset years.
See also: sunset, year
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
ride off into the sunset
achieve a happy conclusion to something.In the closing scenes of westerns, the characters are often seen riding off into the sunset after everything has been resolved satisfactorily.
See also: off, ride, sunset
sunset years
the last years of a person's life. euphemisticSee also: sunset, year
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
ride off into the sunset, to
A more or less happy ending or resolution. This cliché was originally a visual one—the classic final scene of the western films so popular from the 1930s on, in which the cowboy hero, having vanquished the evildoers, literally rides off into the sunset. It was transferred to other happy endings, usually with some irony, in the mid-twentieth century. “I didn’t even bother getting mad at your crack about me going off into the sunset,” wrote William Goldman (Magic, 1967).
See also: off, ride
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- ride (off) into the sunset
- ride off into the sunset
- neat
- neat as a pin
- (as) neat as a pin
- beat a dead horse
- dead horse, to beat/flog a
- flog a dead horse
- dead horse
- flog