the stuff of legend

idiomatic phrase

variants or less commonly the stuff of legends

1

: someone or something that is told about in legend

Dragons are still the stuff of legend. But in Slovenia, a bizarre, cave-dwelling … salamander serves as a worthy, real-life stand-in.

—Olivia Lowenberg

2

: someone or something that is very famous or memorable

Earlier that summer, Saito faced off with Tanaka in Japan's national high school championships, which are at least the equivalent of March Madness in the United States. Their battles were the stuff of legend, but Saito's team won and he struck out Tanaka for the final out of the deciding game.

—Anthony Rieber

For those of us who ran around in it, the blizzard of '78 was the stuff of legend, an unrelenting force of nature that smacked Boston upside the head for about a week.

—Bob Flaherty

The contest between ruling authorities and peasants over whether or not martyrs would be commemorated could itself become the stuff of legends.

—Anne Walthall

Examples of the stuff of legend in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As for its racing debut at Le Mans in 1959, the story is still the stuff of legend. —Howard Walker, Robb Report, 20 Jan. 2025

The rest was the stuff of legends, madness in December. —Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 9 Dec. 2024

Snowfall is the stuff of legends in Buffalo, NY, which sits on the eastern edge of Lake Erie. —Rebecca Coffey, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024

Musselman once played future NBA guard Anthony Black 35 minutes a night in 2022-23, leading the SEC; Thibodeau’s heavy minutes have become the stuff of legends in NBA ranks. —Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1