Phrase guide

protest too much

verb · 1 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

verb

Meaning 1

To insist so passionately about something that people suspect the opposite of what one is saying.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Shortened from the lady doth protest too much.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 此地無銀三百兩 /此地无银三百两 (cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) — insist on something
  • Finnish: vakuutella liikaa — insist on something
  • Polish: protestować przesadnie — insist on something