sell ice to Eskimos

verb

To persuade people to go against their best interests or to accept something unnecessary or preposterous.

“He's such a smooth talker, he could sell ice to Eskimos.”

Similar
sell freezers to Eskimossell salt to a slugsell snow to Eskimos
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Meanings

verbsell ice to Eskimos (third-person singular simple present sells ice to Eskimos, present participle selling ice to Eskimos, simple past and past participle sold ice to Eskimos)

present singular third person sells ice to Eskimos · participle present selling ice to Eskimos · participle past sold ice to Eskimos · past sold ice to Eskimos

  1. idiomaticTo persuade people to go against their best interests or to accept something unnecessary or preposterous.

    He's such a smooth talker, he could sell ice to Eskimos.

    Synonyms: sell freezers to Eskimos, sell salt to a slug, sell snow to Eskimos

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo persuade people to go against their best interests or to accept something unnecessary or preposterous.

Similar
sell freezers to Eskimossell salt to a slugsell snow to Eskimos
Also see
carry coals to newcastlesell freezers to eskimossell salt to a slugsell snow to eskimos

Translations

Spanish llevar naranjas a Valencia
  • llevar naranjas a Valenciapersuade people to accept something they don't need
Cite this entry
APA

sell ice to Eskimos. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20ice%20to%20Eskimos

MLA

“sell ice to Eskimos.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20ice%20to%20Eskimos. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sell ice to Eskimos,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sell%20ice%20to%20Eskimos.

Source: sell ice to Eskimos on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.