Meanings
- idiomaticpluralplural onlySomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored or that goes unacknowledged.
Marks & Spencer announced a 19% fall in annual profits on Tuesday.
2005 May 26, “Is an M&S suit the emperor's new clothes?”, in The Guardian, UKSynonyms: elephant in the room
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored or that goes unacknowledged.
Origin
After The Emperor's New Clothes, a tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 國王的新衣 /国王的新衣
- 國王的新衣 /国王的新衣something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Danish kejserens nye klæder
- kejserens nye klædersomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Finnish keisarin uudet vaatteet
- keisarin uudet vaatteetsomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Hungarian a császár új ruhája
- a császár új ruhájasomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Japanese 裸の王様
- 裸の王様something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Norwegian keiserens nye klær
- keiserens nye klærsomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Polish nowe szaty króla, nowe szaty cesarza
- nowe szaty królasomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
- nowe szaty cesarzasomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Portuguese roupa nova do imperador, roupas novas do imperador
- roupa nova do imperadorsomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
- roupas novas do imperadorsomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Slovak cisárove nové šaty
- cisárove nové šatysomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Swedish kejsarens nya kläder
- kejsarens nya klädersomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Vietnamese bộ quần áo mới của hoàng đế
- bộ quần áo mới của hoàng đếsomething obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored
Cite this entry
emperor's new clothes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emperor's%20new%20clothes
“emperor's new clothes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emperor's%20new%20clothes. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “emperor's new clothes,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/emperor's%20new%20clothes.
Source: emperor's new clothes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.