Meanings
plural sheep in wolves' clothing
- Someone or something that appears fierce or threatening but is actually harmless or means no harm.
1 more example
The hunter-insects, as we have seen, disguise themselves so as to get near their victims unawares, and the hunted disguise themselves very often in the same way so as to avoid being seen, but sometimes in such a way that if they are seen they may appear to be much more terrible creatures than they really are. And so we have the sheep in wolves’ clothing.
1910, Douglas English, A Book of Nimble Beasts: Bunny Rabbit, Squirrel, Toad, and “Those Sort of People”, London: Eveleigh Nash, page 221Synonyms: paper tiger · Antonyms: wolf in sheep's clothing
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone or something that appears fierce or threatening but is actually harmless or means no harm.
Origin
Humorous alteration of wolf in sheep's clothing.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
sheep in wolf's clothing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sheep%20in%20wolf's%20clothing
“sheep in wolf's clothing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sheep%20in%20wolf's%20clothing. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sheep in wolf's clothing,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sheep%20in%20wolf's%20clothing.
Source: sheep in wolf's clothing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.