wolf in sheep's clothing

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English

WOTD – 7 July 2020
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Etymology

From Matthew 7:15 in the Bible (King James Version; spelling modernized): “Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

wolf in sheep's clothing (plural wolves in sheep's clothing)

  1. (idiomatic) Someone who or something which is harmful or threatening but disguised as something peaceful or pleasant.
    Synonym: wolf in a lamb's skin
    Antonyms: paper tiger, sheep in wolf's clothing
    • 1659, Edward Burroughs [i.e., Edward Burrough], “Some of the Principles of the Quakers (Scornfully so Called by Men) Vindicated, and Proved Sound, and True, According to the Scriptures: ”, in The Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation: , : , published 1672, →OCLC, page 452:
      He ſaith, He doth not plead for all who go under the name of Miniſters in England; he fears there is many of them no better than Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, &c. Then why doth he not come out, and cry againſt them, but remain amongſt them in their Practice? For wherein can he clear himſelf of any one thing, which they are guilty of, which he confeſſes are Wolves in Sheep's Clothing? [...] I have as much ground to ſuſpect him to be one of the Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, as he has ground to ſuſpect his own Companions and Generation to be ſuch.
    • 1785 February 9, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Member of Parliament for Stafford), “”, in [William Cobbett], editor, The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803.  (House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume XXV, London: Printed by T C Hansard,  for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown; , published 1815, →OCLC, column 47:
      If the wolf was to be feared, the learned gentleman might rest assured it would be the wolf in sheep's clothing, the masked pretender to patriotism. It was not from the fang of the lion, but from the tooth of the serpent, that reptile that insidiously steals upon the vitals of the constitution and gnaws it to the heart ere the mischief is suspected, that destruction was to be feared.
    • 1790 February 24, Arthur Browne, “”, in The Parliamentary Register: Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons of Ireland,  (Irish House of Commons), volume X, Dublin: Printed by P. Byrne, ; and J. Moore, , →OCLC, page 310:
      The military power ſhould ever be kept diſtinct. We then ſee it, we know it by its proper name, we are on our guard, but when a power of a ſimilar kind intrudes itſelf upon us, under the name of a civil power, the wolf in ſheep's clothing deceives and endangers us.
    • 1806, Thoughts on Deceit, Margate, Kent: Printed by J. Warren, , →OCLC, pages 15–16:
      A deceitful man is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He will appear innocent, cheerful, polite, attentive, kind, obliging, and abjectly condescending; but let him once get you into his power and he becomes more ferocious, more cruel, and more destructive than the most savage animals that ever trod in deserts uninhabited by rational beings.
    • (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh: [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 27:
      And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn a wolf in sheep's clothing into the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried.]
    • 1836 December 31, Laurie Todd, “Letter from Laurie Todd: Christmas and New-Year’s-Day”, in New-York Mirror, a Weekly Journal, Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts, volume XIV, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Scott & Co., printers, →OCLC, page 211, column 1:
      [H]ere, then, was a community of good taste and kind feeling, no sharpers, no black-legs, no wolves in sheep's clothing.
    • , →OCLC, page 4:
      So the tales were told ages before Æsop: and asses under lion's manes roared in Hebrew; and sly foxes flattered in Etruscan; and wolves in sheep's clothing gnashed their teeth in Sanscrit, no doubt.]
    • 1978 February 17, Thomas Eisner, Karen Hicks, Maria Eisner, Douglas S. Robson, “‘Wolf-in-Sheep’s-Clothing’ Strategy of a Predaceous Insect Larva”, in Science, volume 199, number 4330, Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science, →DOI, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, →PMID, page 793, columns 1–2:
      The larvae, it seemed, had "passed" as aphids. Like "wolves in sheep's clothing" they appeared to have fooled the guardians of their prey.

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , 1611, →OCLC, Matthew 7:15, column 2: “Beware of falſe prophets which come to you in ſheepes clothing, but inwardly they are rauening wolues.”
  2. ^ “a wolf in a lamb’s skin, in sheep’s clothing, etc., phrase” under “wolf, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928; “a wolf in sheep’s clothing, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

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