Word.ws English Dictionary

show don't tell

show don't tell is the alternative form of show.

Meaning of show

Verb

show (third-person singular simple present shows, present participle showing, simple past showed or (archaic) shew, past participle shown or (US or rare) showed)

  1. (transitive) To display, convey or exhibit; to have something available for others to see; to direct attention to something.
    • The king showed great wisdom in his decisions.
    1. (transitive) To indicate; to convey facts that lead to a conclusion.
      • The record shows that you have been late twelve times this year.
    2. (transitive) To guide or escort; to show the way.
      • Could you please show him on his way. He has overstayed his welcome.
    3. (transitive) To bestow; to confer.
      • to show mercy; to show favour
    4. (transitive) To put on a movie, TV show, etc; to be presented in this way.
      • The cinema on Ninth Avenue is showing a couple family movies.
    5. (transitive) To display artwork in a gallery or museum.
      • John is showing his work tonight.

See all 40 meanings of show

Questions about show don't tell

What is show don't tell the alternative form of?
Show don't tell is the alternative form of show.

Words near show don't tell in the dictionary

  1. show courts
  2. show day
  3. show days
  4. show dog
  5. show dogs
  6. show don't tell
  7. show down
  8. show end
  9. show ends
  10. show flat
  11. show flats

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: show don't tell (page history and authors); show (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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Cite this entry: “show don't tell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/show_don%27t_tell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.