paint\ the\ lily

paint\ the\ lily
• gild the lily
• paint the lily
v. phr.
To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough.

To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily.

For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily.

Frank's father is a millionaire, but Frank gilds the lily by saying he is a billionaire.


Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". . 1997.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • paint the lily — verb 1. adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) • Syn: ↑gild the lily • Hypernyms: ↑decorate, ↑adorn, ↑grace, ↑ornament, ↑embellish, ↑beautify …   Useful english dictionary

  • paint the lily — See: GILD THE LILY …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • paint the lily — See: GILD THE LILY …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • to gild refined gold, to paint the lily — Meaning Usually misquoted as to gild the lily . Origin From Shakespeare s King John …   Meaning and origin of phrases

  • gild the lily —  The passage from Shakespeare’s King John is: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily ... Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and hackneyed to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • gild the lily —    The passage from Shakespeare s King John is To gild refined gold, to paint the lily. . ./Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. Thus it is both wrong and resorting to a woeful cliche to speak of gilding the lily in the sense of overdoing something …   Dictionary of troublesome word

  • gild the lily — verb 1. adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) • Syn: ↑paint the lily • Hypernyms: ↑decorate, ↑adorn, ↑grace, ↑ornament, ↑embellish, ↑beautify …   Useful english dictionary

  • gild\ the\ lily — • gild the lily • paint the lily v. phr. To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough. To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily. For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily. Frank s father is a …   Словарь американских идиом

  • gild the lily — also[paint the lily] {v. phr.} To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough. * /To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily./ * /For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily./ * /Frank s father is… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • gild the lily — also[paint the lily] {v. phr.} To add unnecessarily to something already beautiful or good enough. * /To talk about a beautiful sunset is to gild the lily./ * /For the beautiful girl to use makeup would be to gild the lily./ * /Frank s father is… …   Dictionary of American idioms

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