sail under false colors

verb

To deceive or intentionally mystify.

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Meanings

verbsail under false colors (third-person singular simple present sails under false colors, present participle sailing under false colors, simple past and past participle sailed under false colors)

present singular third person sails under false colors · participle present sailing under false colors · participle past sailed under false colors · past sailed under false colors

  1. idiomaticobsoletenauticalTo deceive or intentionally mystify.

    They were all not exactly sailing under false colours, but deceiving themselves as to their motives—and one another, to a lesser degree, by their actions.

    1869, Annie Thomas, “Miss Vargrave Nearly Lands a Fish”, in False Colours. […], volume II, London: Tinsley Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 251
Cite this entry
APA

sail under false colors. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sail%20under%20false%20colors

MLA

“sail under false colors.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sail%20under%20false%20colors. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sail under false colors,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sail%20under%20false%20colors.

Source: sail under false colors on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.