showing one's true stripes
showing one's true stripes is the present participle and gerund of show one's true stripes.
Meaning of show one's true stripes
Verb
show one's true stripes (third-person singular simple present shows one's true stripes, present participle showing one's true stripes, simple past showed one's true stripes, past participle shown one's true stripes or (US also) showed one's true stripes)
- To reveal one's real beliefs, sentiments, or character, especially through one's behavior.
- Fidel Castro showed his true stripes again—as if they weren't indelible enough already—by letting his MiGs shoot down two of three unarmed Cuban-exile planes off Havana's coast on Saturday.1996 February 26, “Editorial" Against Change in Cuba”, in Miami Herald, retrieved 21 Mar 2013, page 14A
- Synonyms:
- show one's true colors
Questions about showing one's true stripes
- What is showing one's true stripes the present participle and gerund of?
- Showing one's true stripes is the present participle and gerund of show one's true stripes.
Words near showing one's true stripes in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: showing one's true stripes (page history and authors); show one's true stripes (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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