Word.ws English Dictionary

putting lipstick on a pig

putting lipstick on a pig is the present participle and gerund of put lipstick on a pig.

Meaning of put lipstick on a pig

Verb

put lipstick on a pig (third-person singular simple present puts lipstick on a pig, present participle putting lipstick on a pig, simple past and past participle put lipstick on a pig)

  1. (idiomatic, slang) To superficially alter something in the hope of making it seem more appealing than it is in actuality.
    • Near-synonyms: polish a turd, sugarcoat the pill

Questions about putting lipstick on a pig

What is putting lipstick on a pig the present participle and gerund of?
Putting lipstick on a pig is the present participle and gerund of put lipstick on a pig.

Words near putting lipstick on a pig in the dictionary

  1. putting it down
  2. putting it mildly
  3. putting it past
  4. putting it to
  5. putting lie to
  6. putting lipstick on a pig
  7. putting new wine in old bottles
  8. putting off
  9. putting on
  10. putting on a brave face
  11. putting on a clinic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: putting lipstick on a pig (page history and authors); put lipstick on a pig (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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