Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors. 2013.
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 — If you gild the lily, you decorate something that is already ornate … The small dictionary of idiomes
gild the lily — ► gild the lily try to improve what is already beautiful or excellent. [ORIGIN: misquotation of a line from Shakespeare s King John VI. ii.] Main Entry: ↑gild … English terms dictionary
gild the lily — meaning ‘to try to improve what is already as beautiful as it can be’, is a not quite accurate quotation from Shakespeare, King John iv.ii.11: To gilde refined Gold, to paint the Lilly; To throw a perfume on the Violet, [etc.] … Modern English usage
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 — 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
gild the lily — A phrase meaning to add unnecessary ornamentation to something already beautiful. Gild the lily is attributed to Shakespeare, but there is a catch the phrase used in Shakespeare s play King John is actually to paint the lily … Glossary of Art Terms
gild the lily — If you gild the lily, you decorate something that is already ornate. (Dorking School Dictionary) … English Idioms & idiomatic expressions
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
