cut above someone, a—(coll.) rather superior to smb.:
- Kitts’ residents consider themselves a cut above the rest of the Caribbean.
Cf.: a cut below someone—rather inferior to a person:
- Kind and affectionate he ever was, but he couldn’t but own … that I was a cut below him.
head and shoulders above someone—considerably much superior to a person:
- I’ll have my own physician. He’s head and shoulders above you in skill.
Note: Neither expression is equivalent in meaning to the phrase above someone—
1. superior to smb. in rank or position:
- He will certainly have an executive above him to whom he reports.
2. too difficult for a person to understand or deal with successfully:
- Most of the language was above me, and so I could only get a general impression of his argument.