put on a pedestal

• place on a pedestal, set on a pedestal

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put on a pedestal (third-person singular simple present puts on a pedestal, present participle putting on a pedestal, simple past and past participle put on a pedestal)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To hold in very high esteem, especially to an exaggerated degree.
   • 1905, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, “The Bell in the Fog”, in The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories:

     A group of young literary men—and one or two women—put him on a pedestal and kissed the earth before it.

   • 1998 April 19, Richard L. Berke, “In New Climate, More Politicians Surmount Imperfect Private Lives”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 August 2012:

     The months, even years, of allegations about President Clinton's private life seem to have toughened—and often exasperated—an electorate that now has more realistic expectations and is not as quick to put politicians on a pedestal.

   • 2000 May 1, Tim Larimer, “Rage for the Machine”, in Time:

     Along the way, Japanese put machines on a pedestal, cherished and befriended them.

   • 2010, Jennifer Harper, Still A Friend of Mine‎, →ISBN:

     He put her on a pedestal, showered her with gifts, and worshiped the ground she walked on.

• cherish, glorify, idealize, idolize, revere, worship

• “put on a pedestal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.