primrose path

noun

1

: a path of ease or pleasure and especially sensual pleasure

himself the primrose path of dalliance treads

—William Shakespeare

2

: a path of least resistance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Houston is trying to become the first men’s team in more than a decade to play in a Final Four in its hometown, but even though the Cougars have a No. 1 seed, their path home for a championship is hardly a stroll along a primrose path. —The New York Times, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2023

And a few surface-level parallels between President Joe Biden and his Democratic predecessor in the 1990s suggest some perils for Republicans expecting a primrose path to the White House in 2024. —Patrick T. Brown, CNN, 10 Mar. 2023

Seventy-one years later one can reasonably ask: Has any other couture house traveled the primrose path of fashion with such enduring cultivation, refinement and romance? —WSJ, 27 Nov. 2018

The primrose path to relevance has been strewn with injuries and other baseball hobgoblins. —Richard Fitch, Cincinnati.com, 27 Apr. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1