rest on one's laurels
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To be satisfied with one's achievements and stop trying to improve
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Ngừng cố gắng cải thiện vì tự hài lòng với thành tựu
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: rest on a symbol of honor
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
After winning the award, she didn't rest on her laurels and continued to work hard
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 “rest on one's laurels” mean?
To be satisfied with one's achievements and stop trying to improve Literally: rest on a symbol of honor
Is “rest on one's laurels” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.