Word.ws English Dictionary

leather and prunella

leather and prunella noun: that which is merely superficial and does not indicate the true nature or value of a person (or thing).

Noun

leather and prunella (uncountable)

  1. (archaic) That which is merely superficial and does not indicate the true nature or value of a person (or thing).
    • In the modern languages she was perfectly skilled; and if her drawings wanted the enliving touches of the master to give them effect; as an atonement, they displayed a perfect knowledge of the rules of perspective and the study of the bust. ¶ All this was however mere leather and prunella to the...1818, Susan Edmonstone Ferrier, chapter 1, in Marriage, volume 2, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, published 1819, pages 5-6
    • “[…] Do you think he disliked her seeing him at our house? Surely your position is more than equal to his—whatever may be his relation to the Casaubons.” ¶ “No, no; it must be something else if he were really vexed. Ladislaw is a sort of gypsy; he thinks nothing of leather and prunella.”1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, Volume 3, Book 5, Chapter 43, p. 13

Origin of leather and prunella

With reference to leather and prunella (materials used for making shoes and apparel), from a passage in Alexander Pope’s 1734 poem “An Essay on Man”: “What differ more (you cry) than Crown and Cowl?” / I’ll tell you, Friend: a wise Man and a Fool. / You’ll find, if once the Monarch acts the Monk, / Or Cobler-like the Parson will be drunk, / Worth makes the Man, and want of it the Fellow, / The rest is all but Leather or Prunello.

Questions about leather and prunella

What does leather and prunella mean?
Leather and prunella means that which is merely superficial and does not indicate the true nature or value of a person (or thing).
What part of speech is leather and prunella?
Leather and prunella is a noun.

Words near leather and prunella in the dictionary

  1. leat
  2. Leath
  3. Leatham
  4. Leathams
  5. leather
  6. leather and prunella
  7. leather britches
  8. leather carp
  9. leather cheerio
  10. leather cheerios
  11. leather knife

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: leather and prunella (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.

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