Meaning of Idiom ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’
A wolf in sheep’s clothing is a person who appears to be friendly and pleasant but is hiding the fact that they are an enemy; an enemy disguised as a friend; a person who is dangerous but pretends to be harmless and friendly; someone who has malicious intent but hides it by pretending to be kind and trustworthy.
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Usage
We use the idiom ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ to warn a person that they cannot always trust someone just because they appear to be a nice and friendly person. The central idea is that appearances are deceptive.
Examples Of Use
“He’s a con artist; a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He uses his charm and good looks to gain your trust and then he takes advantage of you.”
“Don’t go to that car dealership. All the salesmen there are wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
“It took a while for Vicky to trust me. Her last boyfriend was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Origin
This idiom comes from a very old fable that has been told since the 5th or 6th century. It appears in Aesop’s fables:
A wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the fleece of a sheep that has been flayed and thrown aside, so the wolf put the fleece on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep.
The lamb whose fleece the wolf was wearing began to follow the wolf so the wolf led the lamb a little apart from the others and soon made a meal of her.
Soon he was bold enough to enter the flock and walk among the other sheep.
However, it just so happened that the shepherd, whose vigilance has long kept the wolf at bay, had a craving for a mutton broth that very evening. So, picking up a knife, he went into the fold. The first sheep he laid hands on was the sheep, which he killed immediately.
This fable also appears in the Bible in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:
Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Although in many versions of the fable, the moral is that an evildoer will often come to harm through his own deceit, the idiom does not necessarily hold this allusion.
More Idioms Starting with W
- Waste One’s Breath
- Wash Your Hands of (Someone or Something)
- What’s the Damage?
- Work One’s Fingers To the Bone
- Out of Wedlock
More Animal Idioms
More Clothing Idioms
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