make a silk purse of a sow's ear

verb

To produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbmake a silk purse of a sow's ear (third-person singular simple present makes a silk purse of a sow's ear, present participle making a silk purse of a sow's ear, simple past and past participle made a silk purse of a sow's ear)

present singular third person makes a silk purse of a sow's ear · participle present making a silk purse of a sow's ear · participle past made a silk purse of a sow's ear · past made a silk purse of a sow's ear

  1. idiomaticTo produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.

    PR people can make a silk purse of a sow's ear.

    1997 May 23, Joanna Biddolph, “Mandelson has become PR’s new role model”, in PRWeek, UK, retrieved 16 Dec 2009
    2 more examples

    "He always was an unmannerly cub," said Master Headley, as he read the letter. "Well, I've done my best to make a silk purse of a sow's ear!"

    1884, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 22, in The Armourer's Prentices

    A smart development can make a silk purse of a sow's ear, and the effect on older properties can be quite dramatic.

    2001 January 6, Penny Jackson, “House & Home: On your marks. Get set. Sell!”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 16 Dec 2009

Origin

Coined by Stephen Gosson in 1579 in the book The Ephemerides of Phialo: Deuided Into Three Bookes p62v

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 化腐朽為神奇 /化腐朽为神奇
  • 化腐朽為神奇 /化腐朽为神奇 (huà fǔxiǔ wéi shénqí)to produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Finnish tehdä jotain hyödyllistä
  • tehdä jotain hyödyllistäto produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
German aus Scheiße Geld machen
  • aus Scheiße Geld machento produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Italian cavare sangue da una rapa, cavar sangue da una rapa
  • cavare sangue da una rapato produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
  • cavar sangue da una rapato produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Polish z gówna bata nie ukręcisz
  • z gówna bata nie ukręciszto produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Russian сде́лать из дерьма́ конфе́тку
  • сде́лать из дерьма́ конфе́тку (sdélatʹ iz derʹmá konfétku)to produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Spanish aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda
  • aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se quedato produce something refined, from something which is unrefined
Cite this entry
APA

make a silk purse of a sow's ear. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20silk%20purse%20of%20a%20sow's%20ear

MLA

“make a silk purse of a sow's ear.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20silk%20purse%20of%20a%20sow's%20ear. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make a silk purse of a sow's ear,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20a%20silk%20purse%20of%20a%20sow's%20ear.

Source: make a silk purse of a sow's ear on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.