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

… Janet Weiss is the greatest rock drummer on Earth. She's elevated all the bands she's played with—but her long-running musical bond with Sleater-Kinney over the years has been the stuff of legend.

—Rob Sheffield

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

Tales of ancient incarceration, which might once have seemed the stuff of legend, turn out, again and again, to have an archeological foundation. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025

The coach's mountain-scaling exploits are already the stuff of legend. —Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 2 Dec. 2025

The vibrant animations, thanks in part to the neon lights of a futuristic Tokyo, are the perfect backdrop to the fight scenes, and the energetic motorbike chases are the stuff of legends. —Ian Stokes, Space.com, 26 Nov. 2025

Among action film fans, Grillo’s fitness regimen is the stuff of legend. —Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 13 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 1