How to Use a hard/tough act to follow in a Sentence

a hard/tough act to follow

noun phrase

• While their beloved debut is a tough act to follow, Why Lawd?
  — Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
• The brown butter blue crab ravioli is a tough act to follow, too.
  — Kayleigh Ruller, Charlotte Observer, 25 Feb. 2025
• Receivers this high school football season have a tough act to follow.
  — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2022
• Then again, last year’s Sphere experience would be a tough act to follow.
  — Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 28 June 2025
• Season 1 was a tough act to follow, and this show needed more than two seasons to do it justice.
  — Erik Kain, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2025
• To be sure, Galliano will be a tough act to follow at Maison Margiela.
  — Miles Socha, WWD, 29 Jan. 2025
• College football has a hard act to follow after last Saturday’s wild ride.
  — Eddie Timanus, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2021
• That's a hard act to follow, and the two subsequent films never quite reached the same heights, despite their box office success.
  — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2021
• And that, paired with the spectacle of it all, will be a tough act to follow for New Orleans next winter.
  — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024
• NorthPark has proven itself a tough act to follow, but that hasn’t stopped developers from trying.
  — Dallas News, 27 July 2022
• Elvis Presley is a tough act to follow — or, as Carol Burnett once learned, to precede.
  — Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2024
• The Sanderson sisters -- famous for being campy, creepy and over-the-top -- are a tough act to follow, or perform alongside.
  — Mary Colurso | [email protected], al, 3 Oct. 2022
• That is a hard act to follow, but the book provides an opportunity to spend time with the work in a more contemplative format.
  — Vince Aletti, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024
• Sting is a tough act to follow, but one rap legend gave it his best shot Saturday night in Miami Beach.
  — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2025
• Everyone agrees that Queen Elizabeth II is a hard act to follow.
  — The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 Sep. 2022
• Indianapolis' 2024 events calendar will be a tough act to follow.
  — Justin L. MacK, Axios, 25 Nov. 2024
• Yet another reminder that Cassidy, much like the hallowed Fours on Canal Street, will be a tough act to follow.
  — Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 18 June 2022
• Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy is the definition of a tough act to follow.
  — Emma Dibdin, Town & Country, 15 Aug. 2022
• Wood is the former chief judge of the 7th Circuit, and judicial observers said Lee has a tough act to follow in replacing her on the court.
  — Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, 22 Sep. 2022
• That said, John Malashock, who founded the organization in 1988, is a hard act to follow.
  — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 May 2022
• From a drama standpoint, the 151st Kentucky Derby has a tough act to follow after last year’s three-way photo finish.
  — Steve Kornacki, NBC news, 2 May 2025
• After an instant classic of a main event on WrestleMania Saturday, Night 2 will have a tough act to follow.
  — Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025
• The show would be a hard act to follow — Beyoncé and Michelle Obama are stans — but eight shows a week for months on end had taken a physical and emotional toll.
  — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 29 July 2020
• Stephenson, with his crotchety, larger-than-life performance in the Dickens’ Victorian holiday tale, would seem a hard act to follow.
  — Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Nov. 2022