go without saying

verb

To not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.

“It goes without saying that our volunteers love their work.”

OriginFrench aller sans dire →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbgo without saying (third-person singular simple present goes without saying, present participle going without saying, simple past went without saying, past participle gone without saying)

present singular third person goes without saying · participle present going without saying · past went without saying · participle past gone without saying

  1. idiomaticimpersonalTo not need to be said or mentioned; to be obvious, apparent, clear, or already established.

    It goes without saying that our volunteers love their work.

    1 more example

    It almost goes without saying that the train is fully soundproofed, with double-glazed windows and highly efficient air-conditioning by the British firm of J. Stone.

    1960 March, G. Freeman Allen, “Europe's most luxurious express - the "Settebello"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 141

Origin

  1. Frenchaller sans dire
  2. Englishgo without saying

Calque of French aller sans dire.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 唔使講 /唔使讲
  • 唔使講 /唔使讲 (m⁴ sai² gong²)to be obvious, apparent or clear
Chinese Mandarin 不言而喻, 不待說 /不待说
  • 不言而喻 (bùyán'éryù)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • 不待說 /不待说 (bùdàishuō)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • 不用說 /不用说 (bùyòngshuō)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • 沒說的 /没说的 (méishuōde)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • 不消說 /不消说 (bùxiāoshuō)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • 自不待言 (zìbùdàiyán)to be obvious, apparent or clear
Dutch ontegenzeggelijk zijn, voor zich spreken
  • ontegenzeggelijk zijnto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • voor zich sprekento be obvious, apparent or clear
Estonian on ütlematagi selge
  • on ütlematagi selgeto be obvious, apparent or clear
Finnish olla sanomattakin selvää
  • olla sanomattakin selvääto be obvious, apparent or clear
French cela va sans dire, ça va sans dire
  • cela va sans direto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • ça va sans direto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • il va sans direto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • il va de soito be obvious, apparent or clear
  • inutile de direto be obvious, apparent or clear
German sich von selbst verstehen, selbstverständlich sein
  • sich von selbst verstehento be obvious, apparent or clear
  • selbstverständlich seinto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • klar seinto be obvious, apparent or clear
Hungarian magától értetődik, mondani sem kell
  • magától értetődikto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • mondani sem kellto be obvious, apparent or clear
Icelandic það segir sig sjálft, það er sjálfsagt
  • það segir sig sjálftto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • það er sjálfsagtto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • það er ekki nema sjálfsagtto be obvious, apparent or clear
Irish ní gá é sin a rá
  • ní gá é sin a ráto be obvious, apparent or clear
Italian va da sé, si capisce
  • va da séto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • si capisceto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • inutile direto be obvious, apparent or clear
Japanese 言うまでもない
  • 言うまでもない (iu made mo nai)to be obvious, apparent or clear
Korean 말할 것도 없다
  • 말할 것도 없다 (malhal geotdo eopda)to be obvious, apparent or clear
Norwegian Bokmål si seg selv, si seg sjøl
  • si seg selvto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • si seg sjølto be obvious, apparent or clear
Polish być oczywistym
  • być oczywistymto be obvious, apparent or clear
Portuguese não precisa nem dizer
  • não precisa nem dizerto be obvious, apparent or clear
Russian само́ собо́й разуме́ется, разуме́ется
  • само́ собо́й разуме́ется (samó sobój razuméjetsja)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • разуме́ется (razuméjetsja)to be obvious, apparent or clear
  • само́ собо́й (samó sobój)to be obvious, apparent or clear
Spanish ni que decir tener, holgar decir que
  • ni que decir tenerto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • holgar decir queto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • ir por delanteto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • sobrar decir queto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • sobreentenderseto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • subentenderseto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • estar de más decirto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • no hacer falta decirto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • de más estar decirto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • estar de más decirloto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • no hacer falta mencionarloto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • ni tenerse que decirto be obvious, apparent or clear
Swedish der säger sig självt, det är underförstått
  • der säger sig självtto be obvious, apparent or clear
  • det är underförståttto be obvious, apparent or clear
Welsh 'does dim rhaid dweud
  • 'does dim rhaid dweudto be obvious, apparent or clear
Cite this entry
APA

go without saying. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20without%20saying

MLA

“go without saying.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20without%20saying. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “go without saying,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/go%20without%20saying.

Source: go without saying on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.