- Home
- Idioms
- a shadow of former self
a shadow of former self
a shadow of your/its former self
a smaller, weaker, or less important form of someone or something With most of its best players traded away, the team was reduced to a shadow of its former self.
a shadow of your former self
if you are a shadow of your former self, you are less strong or less powerful than you were in the past He came back to work after 3 months, completely cured of the cancer but a shadow of his former self.