Meanings
present singular third person preaches to the choir · participle present preaching to the choir · participle past preached to the choir · past preached to the choir
- idiomaticTo speak as if to convince a person or group of something they already believe.
It hardly needs saying that converting a Tory in a swingable “blue wall” constituency is electorally far more valuable than preaching to the choir in a Labour stronghold.
2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian, →ISSN1 more example
Jay Branegan says each side will be preaching to the choir. "Democrats will make the argument that's been successful with their base […] [that] Republicans are merely helping the rich."
1999 August 6, Frank Pellegrini, “Now the Tax Cut Is in the Hands of the Voters”, in TimeSynonyms: preach to the converted, preach to the congregation
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo speak as if to convince a person or group of something they already believe.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 多此一舉 /多此一举
- 多此一舉 /多此一举 (duōcǐyījǔ)speaking to those who already believe
Dutch een open deur intrappen, voor eigen parochie preken
- een open deur intrappenspeaking to those who already believe
- voor eigen parochie prekenspeaking to those who already believe
Finnish puhua uskovaisille
- puhua uskovaisillespeaking to those who already believe
French prêcher un converti, prêcher un convaincu
- prêcher un convertispeaking to those who already believe
- prêcher un convaincuspeaking to those who already believe
German offene Türen einrennen
- offene Türen einrennenspeaking to those who already believe
Hungarian nyitott kapukat dönget
- nyitott kapukat döngetspeaking to those who already believe
Italian sfondare una porta aperta
- sfondare una porta apertaspeaking to those who already believe
Japanese 釈迦に説法
- 釈迦に説法 (shaka ni seppō)speaking to those who already believe
Norwegian Bokmål slå inn åpne dører
- slå inn åpne dørerspeaking to those who already believe
Polish wyważać otwarte drzwi, wyważyć otwarte drzwi
- wyważać otwarte drzwispeaking to those who already believe
- wyważyć otwarte drzwispeaking to those who already believe
Portuguese pregar aos convertidos
- pregar aos convertidosspeaking to those who already believe
Russian ломи́ться в откры́тую дверь
- ломи́ться в откры́тую дверь (lomítʹsja v otkrýtuju dverʹ)speaking to those who already believe
Spanish hablar a Noé de lluvia
- hablar a Noé de lluviaspeaking to those who already believe
Swedish predika för de redan frälsta, slå in öppna dörrar
- predika för de redan frälstaspeaking to those who already believe
- slå in öppna dörrarspeaking to those who already believe
Thai สอนหนังสือสังฆราช
- สอนหนังสือสังฆราช (sɔ̌ɔn-nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ-sǎng-ká-râat)speaking to those who already believe
Cite this entry
preach to the choir. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach%20to%20the%20choir
“preach to the choir.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach%20to%20the%20choir. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “preach to the choir,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/preach%20to%20the%20choir.
Source: preach to the choir on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.