Phrase guide

to thine own self be true

proverb · 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.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

Be yourself; be true to yourself; do not engage in self-deception.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From a monologue delivered by the character Polonius in Act I Scene III of Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 對自己忠實 /对自己忠实 (duì zìjǐ zhōngshí) — proverb
  • Czech: buď věrný sám sobě — proverb
  • Finnish: ole rehellinen itsellesi — proverb
  • French: sois loyal envers toi-même — proverb
  • Italian: sii sincero con te stesso — proverb
  • Japanese: おのれに忠実であれ (onore-ni chūjitsu de are) — proverb
  • Korean: 자기 자신에게 진실 되어라 (jagi jasinege jinsil doeeora) — proverb
  • Latin: quisque sibi verus — proverb
  • Russian: будь ве́рен сам себе́ (budʹ véren sam sebé) — proverb
  • Russian: будь ве́рен самому́ себе́ (budʹ véren samomú sebé) — proverb