pot calling the kettle black
UK/ˈpɒt ˈkɔːliŋ ðə ˈkɛtl̩ ˈblæk//ˈpɑt ˈkɔliŋ ðə ˈkɛtl̩ ˈblæk/
pot calling the kettle black noun: a situation in which somebody comments on or accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares.
Noun
pot calling the kettle black
- A situation in which somebody comments on or accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares.
- I think it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black when she says he is obsessive.
pot calling the kettle black meaning in Malay, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese
pot calling the kettle black in Malay
- situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser
- kata periuk belanga hitam
pot calling the kettle black in Indonesian
- situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser
- maling teriak maling, maling teriak rampok
pot calling the kettle black in Thai
- situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser
- ว่าแต่เขาอิเหนาเป็นเอง wâa-dtɛ̀ɛ-kǎo-ì-nǎo-bpen-eeng
pot calling the kettle black in Vietnamese
- situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault shared by the accuser
- chó chê mèo lắm lông
Origin of pot calling the kettle black
There are two interpretations of this phrase, though some sources give only the first interpretation. In the first interpretation, it refers to the fact that both cast-iron pots' and kettles' bottoms turn equally black when hung over a fire, and thus the pot is accusing the kettle of a fault it shares. In the second (unlikely) interpretation, the pot is sooty (being placed on a fire), while the kettle is clean and shiny (being placed on coals only), and hence when the pot accuses the kettle of being black, it is the pot’s own sooty reflection that it sees: the pot accuses the kettle of a fault that only the pot has.
Words formed from pot calling the kettle black
Questions about pot calling the kettle black
- What does pot calling the kettle black mean?
- Pot calling the kettle black means a situation in which somebody comments on or accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares.
- What is pot calling the kettle black in Malay?
- Pot calling the kettle black in Malay is kata periuk belanga hitam. See Pot calling the kettle black meaning in Malay.
- What part of speech is pot calling the kettle black?
- Pot calling the kettle black is a noun.
- How do you pronounce pot calling the kettle black?
- Pot calling the kettle black is pronounced /ˈpɒt ˈkɔːliŋ ðə ˈkɛtl̩ ˈblæk/ (UK).
Words near pot calling the kettle black in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pot calling the kettle black (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pot calling the kettle black.ogg, en-au-pot calling the kettle black.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pot calling the kettle black.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pot_calling_the_kettle_black. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.