A Flash in the Pan.
English
idiom
Something that seems promising or exciting but turns out to be disappointing or unsuccessful.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
Something that seems promising or exciting but turns out to be disappointing or unsuccessful.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
Something that shows early promise or success but quickly fades and does not last.
A flash in the pan is a brief, exciting moment that does not develop into anything sustained.
It is used to describe trends, careers, or ideas that look promising at first but fail to hold up over time.
"One-hit Wonder"
—
Someone who achieves one notable success but cannot replicate it
"Nine-day Wonder"
—
Something that attracts intense attention and fascination for a short time before being forgotten
"A Flash in the Pan"
—
Something that starts with great promise but quickly fades without lasting impact
The campaign numbers look great this week — should we scale it immediately?
Let's wait a month — I want to make sure it's not a flash in the pan before we invest more.
That new app has ten million downloads already — do you think it'll last?
Hard to say — downloads are exciting, but a lot of these turn out to be a flash in the pan.
Whatever happened to that restaurant that opened with so much hype last year?
Closed after four months — a total flash in the pan.
