Word.ws English Dictionary

shows one's true stripes

shows one's true stripes is the third-person singular simple present indicative 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)

  1. (idiomatic) 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

Questions about shows one's true stripes

What is shows one's true stripes the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Shows one's true stripes is the third-person singular simple present indicative of show one's true stripes.

Words near shows one's true stripes in the dictionary

  1. shows one's claws
  2. shows one's hand
  3. shows one's stuff
  4. shows one's teeth
  5. shows one's true colors
  6. shows one's true stripes
  7. shows one's work
  8. shows oneself
  9. shows out
  10. shows round
  11. shows shapes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shows 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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