Word.ws English Dictionary

never judge a book by its cover

never judge a book by its cover is the alternative form of you can't judge a book by its cover.

Meaning of you can't judge a book by its cover

Proverb

you can't judge a book by its cover

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic) It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.
    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, Other things besides cream float to the top

Questions about never judge a book by its cover

What is never judge a book by its cover the alternative form of?
Never judge a book by its cover is the alternative form of you can't judge a book by its cover.

Words near never judge a book by its cover in the dictionary

  1. never fear
  2. never fight a land war in Asia
  3. never have I ever
  4. never in a million years
  5. never in a month of Sundays
  6. never judge a book by its cover
  7. never look a gift horse in the mouth
  8. never meet your heroes
  9. never mind
  10. never minds
  11. Never Never

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: never judge a book by its cover (page history and authors); you can't judge a book by its cover (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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