Phrase guide

you can't judge a book by its cover

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.

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

1

proverb

Meaning 1

It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: clothes don't make the man, the cowl does not make the monk, all that glitters is not gold, looks can be deceiving, appearances are deceptive, don't just scratch the surface, anything essential is invisible to the eyes, one sees clearly only with the heart

Antonyms: clothes maketh the man, fine feathers make fine birds

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: gjykon puna, s'gjykon guna — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Arabic: لَا تَحْكُم عَلَى كِتَابِ مِِنْ غِلَافِهِ (lā taḥkum ʕalā kitābi miin ḡilāfihi) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Chinese Mandarin: 人不可貌相 (bùyào yǐmàoqǔrén) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Czech: nesuď knihu podle obalu — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Danish: man skal ikke skue hunden på hårene — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Finnish: ei ole koiraa karvoihin katsominen — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Finnish: moni kakku päältä kaunis — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • French: l'habit ne fait pas le moine — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Greek: τα φαινόμενα απατούν (ta fainómena apatoún) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Greek: το ράσο δεν κάνει τον παπά (to ráso den kánei ton papá) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Ancient Greek: πώγων οὐ ποιεῖ φιλόσοφον (pṓgōn ou poieî philósophon) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Hungarian: ne a borító alapján ítéld meg a könyvet — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Icelandic: þú getur ekki rannsakað hund eftir hárinu — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Irish: go minic bíonn croí geal i gcraiceann donn — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Italian: l'abito non fa il monaco — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Italian: non giudicare un libro dalla copertina — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Italian: non giudicare dalle apparenze — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Japanese: 看板に偽りなし (kanban ni itsuwari nashi) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Korean: 겉을 보고 속을 판단하지 마라 (geoteul bogo sogeul pandanhaji mara) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Latin: barba non facit philosophum — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Lithuanian: nespręsk apie knygą iš viršelio — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Norwegian Bokmål: man kan ikke dømme boken etter omslaget — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Norwegian Bokmål: man skal aldri skue hunden på hårene — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Polish: nie oceniaj książki po okładce — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Portuguese: não se pode julgar um livro pela capa — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Romanian: nu haina îl face pe om — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Russian: не суди́ о кни́ге по обло́жке (ne sudí o kníge po oblóžke) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Scottish Gaelic: 's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Serbo-Croatian: ne sudi knjizi po koricama — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Slovak: nesúď knihu podľa obalu — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Slovene: ne sodi knjige po platnicah — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Spanish: el hábito no hace al monje — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Swedish: man skall inte döma hunden efter håren — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Swedish: man ska inte döma boken efter omslaget — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Tagalog: mapanlinlang ang panlabas na anyo — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Turkish: hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Ukrainian: не судіть про книгу за її обкладинкою (ne suditʹ pro knyhu za jiji obkladynkoju) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Urdu: ذات نہ پوچھو سادھو کی؛ پوچھ لیجئے علم (zāt nā pūcho sādhu kī; pūch lījie ilm) — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone
  • Vietnamese: tốt gỗ hơn tốt nước sơn — it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone