don't look a gift horse in the mouth

don't look a gift horse in the mouth proverb: one should not unappreciatively question or inspect a gift too closely.

Proverb

don't look a gift horse in the mouth

One should not unappreciatively question or inspect a gift too closely.
- No man ought to looke a geuen hors in the mouth.1546, John Heywood, (Please provide the book title or journal name)
- He ne’er consider'd it, as loth
  To look a Gift-horse in the mouth.1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras
Synonyms:

beggars can't be choosers, something is better than nothing, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

don't look a gift horse in the mouth meaning in Telugu, Persian and Vietnamese

don't look a gift horse in the mouth in Telugu

a phrase referring to unappreciatively questioning of a gift or handout too closely: పాపమని పాత చీర ఇస్తే గోడ చాటుకు వెళ్ళి మూర వేసిందట pāpamani pāta cīra istē gōḍa cāṭuku veḷḷi mūra vēsindaṭa

don't look a gift horse in the mouth in Persian

a phrase referring to unappreciatively questioning of a gift or handout too closely: دندون اسب پیشکشی رو نمیشمرند

don't look a gift horse in the mouth in Vietnamese

a phrase referring to unappreciatively questioning of a gift or handout too closely: có còn hơn không

Synonyms of don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Forms of don't look a gift horse in the mouth

alternative form	never look a gift horse in the mouth

Origin of don't look a gift horse in the mouth

Calque from Latin expressions such as equi dentes inspicere donati (“to inspect the teeth of a provided horse”) in St. Jerome's c. 400 Preface to the Commentaries of the Letter to the Ephesians (Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Ephesios Libri Tres), which designates it as a "common proverb" (vulgare proverbium). The ultimate referrent is inspection of horses' teeth as a way of ascertaining their age and value.

Questions about don't look a gift horse in the mouth

What does don't look a gift horse in the mouth mean?: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth means one should not unappreciatively question or inspect a gift too closely.
What is don't look a gift horse in the mouth in Telugu?: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth in Telugu is పాపమని పాత చీర ఇస్తే గోడ చాటుకు వెళ్ళి మూర వేసిందట (pāpamani pāta cīra istē gōḍa cāṭuku veḷḷi mūra vēsindaṭa). See Don't look a gift horse in the mouth meaning in Telugu.
What part of speech is don't look a gift horse in the mouth?: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth is a proverb.

Words near don't look a gift horse in the mouth in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: don't look a gift horse in the mouth (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-don't look a gift horse in the mouth.ogg.

Cite this entry: “don't look a gift horse in the mouth.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/don%27t_look_a_gift_horse_in_the_mouth. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.