a leopard cannot change its spots
English · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
a leopard cannot change its spots
Where it comes from
Ultimately from Jeremiah 13:23.
proverb a leopard can't change its spots
-
One cannot change one's own nature.
King.[…]Lyons make Leopards tame. / Mo[wbray]. Yea, but not change his ſpots:
Similar: the wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature, the fox may grow grey but never good, you can take the person out of the place, but you can't take the place out of th
Translations
Every language
proverb one cannot change one's own nature — see also what's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh
| Español | genio y figura hasta la sepultura, no hay que pedir peras al olmo, la cabra siempre tira al monte, quien nace lechón muere cochino |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 제 버릇 개 못 준다 je beoreut gae mot junda, 제 버릇 개 줄까 je beoreut gae julkka, 개 버릇 남 주나 gae beoreut nam juna |
| 中文 | 江山易改，本性難移 /江山易改, 本性难移 jiāngshān yì gǎi, běnxìng nán yí |
| Português | o leopardo não pode mudar suas manchas |
| Français | chassez le naturel, il revient au galop, on ne se refait pas |
| Deutsch | die Katze lässt das Mausen nicht, niemand kann aus seiner Haut |
| Italiano | il lupo perde il pelo ma non il vizio, chi nasce tondo non può morire quadrato |
| Română | lupul își schimbă părul, dar năravul ba |
| Tiếng Việt | ngựa quen đường cũ, giang sơn dễ đổi, bản tính khó dời |
| العربية | الطَّبْعُ يَغْلِبُ التَّطَبُّعَ aṭ-ṭabʕu yaḡlibu t-taṭabbuʕa |
Talk about this word "a leopard cannot change its spots." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/a%20leopard%20cannot%20change%20its%20spots. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026. a leopard cannot change its spots. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 7, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/a%20leopard%20cannot%20change%20its%20spots "a leopard cannot change its spots." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 7, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/a%20leopard%20cannot%20change%20its%20spots.Cite this
@misc{a_leopard_cannot_change_its_spots_2026,
title = {a leopard cannot change its spots},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/a%20leopard%20cannot%20change%20its%20spots},
urldate = {2026-11-07}
}
