Phrase guide

gift horse

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs or drawbacks, especially a gift that does not fit perfectly with the recipient's wants or needs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a gift (usually of inferior quality) that should be accepted uncritically

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it wasn't much, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gift

History

Etymology

From the economics of horse ownership, in which an aging horse of declining value continues to require feeding and stabling. Possibly influenced by the proverb don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: gegeven paard — apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs
  • Finnish: lahjahevonen — apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs
  • Hungarian: ajándék ló — apparent gift, that has substantial associated costs