oil and water

noun

Two things which are incapable of mixing or coexisting harmoniously with each other.

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Meanings

nounoil and water pl (plural only)
  1. idiomaticpluralplural onlyTwo things which are incapable of mixing or coexisting harmoniously with each other.

    Forgiveness and making bargains are oil and water. They don't mix.

    2011, Loretta M. Siani, The Alchemy of Prayer: How It Began and Why It Is the Medium of Miracles, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 47
    2 more examples

    We are oil and water. There are few things he and I agree on but I believe we would agree on this.

    1982, Winston Graham, The Miller's Dance, Pan Books, published 2008, →ISBN

    […] second, that the white and red man were oil and water, incapable of safely sharing a landscape.

    2009, Brian Schofield, Selling Your Father's Bones: America's 140-Year War against the Nez Perce Tribe, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 31

Translations

Tagalog tubig at langis
  • tubig at langisTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

oil and water. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20and%20water

MLA

“oil and water.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20and%20water. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oil and water,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oil%20and%20water.

Source: oil and water on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.