gild the lily
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.
gild the lily
- /ˈɡɪld ðə ˈlɪli/
Where it comes from
A common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare's play King John.
verb gilds the lily · gilding the lily · gilded the lily
-
To embellish or improve something unnecessarily.
Similar: go overboard, overegg, over-egg the pudding
- To add superfluous attributes to something. Poor Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, so maligned for her imaginative pictures of Lovere and Lake Iseo, may surely be forgiven for having gilded the lily, for adding an extra touch of romance where the romantic already so abounded
Translations
Every language
verb to improve unnecessarily
| 한국어 | 화사첨족 hwasacheomjok |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 画蛇添足 gada tensoku |
| 中文 | 畫蛇添足 /画蛇添足 huàshétiānzú |
| Deutsch | unnötig ausschmücken, des Guten zu viel tun |
| Italiano | infronzolare, agghindare, azzimare |
verb to add superfluous attributes
| Español | rizar el rizo |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | übertreiben |
| Italiano | infronzolare |
Talk about this word "gild the lily." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gild%20the%20lily. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gild the lily. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gild%20the%20lily "gild the lily." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gild%20the%20lily.Cite this
@misc{gild_the_lily_2026,
title = {gild the lily},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gild%20the%20lily},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
