Meanings
present singular third person gilds the lily · participle present gilding the lily · participle past gilded the lily · past gilded the lily
- idiomaticTo embellish or improve something unnecessarily.
Synonyms: 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
1908, Edith Wharton, A Motor-Flight through France, Chapter 11
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo embellish or improve something unnecessarily.
More synonyms by meaning
verbadorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
A common misquotation of a line from William Shakespeare's play King John.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 畫蛇添足 /画蛇添足
- 畫蛇添足 /画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú)to improve unnecessarily
Danish overbrodere, overbrodere
- overbrodereto improve unnecessarily
- overbrodereto add superfluous attributes
Finnish kruusata, maalailla
- kruusatato improve unnecessarily
- maalaillato add superfluous attributes
German unnötig ausschmücken, des Guten zu viel tun
- unnötig ausschmückento improve unnecessarily
- des Guten zu viel tunto improve unnecessarily
- übertreibento add superfluous attributes
Italian infronzolare, agghindare
- infronzolareto improve unnecessarily
- agghindareto improve unnecessarily
- azzimareto improve unnecessarily
- infronzolareto add superfluous attributes
Japanese 画蛇添足
- 画蛇添足 (gada tensoku)to improve unnecessarily
Korean 화사첨족
- 화사첨족 (hwasacheomjok)to improve unnecessarily
Polish przedobrzać, przedobrzyć
- przedobrzaćto improve unnecessarily
- przedobrzyćto improve unnecessarily
- przesadzaćto add superfluous attributes
- przesadzićto add superfluous attributes
Spanish rizar el rizo
- rizar el rizoto add superfluous attributes
Ukrainian переборщи́ти, переприкра́сити
- переборщи́ти (pereborščýty)to improve unnecessarily
- переприкра́сити (pereprykrásyty)to improve unnecessarily
Cite this entry
gild the lily. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gild%20the%20lily
“gild the lily.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gild%20the%20lily. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gild the lily,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gild%20the%20lily.
Source: gild the lily on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.