Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. Cassandra managed through hard work to win a big contract for her company. It was a real feather in her cap.
2. The scholarship Lee won to attend the university was a feather in his cap.

Synonym: something to crow about. Antonym: nothing to write home about. Compare to: feather (one’s) nest. The practice of placing a feather in one’s cap is centuries old and appears to have been practiced in many different cultures. The feather was awarded and worn as a sign of a significant achievement by the wearer. In some cultures, such as 16th-century Hungary, it was a crime to wear a feather when one had not earned the right.