rain on someone's parade

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

to spoil or ruin someone's plans or event

Literally: rain on a parade
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Her constant criticism rained on his parade, making the party less enjoyable

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “rain on someone's parade” mean?

to spoil or ruin someone's plans or event Literally: rain on a parade

Is “rain on someone's parade” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.