Word.ws English Dictionary

took the shadow for the substance

took the shadow for the substance is the simple past of take the shadow for the substance.

Meaning of take the shadow for the substance

Verb

take the shadow for the substance (third-person singular simple present takes the shadow for the substance, present participle taking the shadow for the substance, simple past took the shadow for the substance, past participle taken the shadow for the substance)

  1. (idiomatic) To be easily deceived, credulous, superficial.

Questions about took the shadow for the substance

What is took the shadow for the substance the simple past of?
Took the shadow for the substance is the simple past of take the shadow for the substance.

Words near took the shadow for the substance in the dictionary

  1. took the register
  2. took the reins
  3. took the ride
  4. took the roll
  5. took the rough with the smooth
  6. took the shadow for the substance
  7. took the shilling
  8. took the shine out of
  9. took the stand
  10. took the studs
  11. took the sun

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: took the shadow for the substance (page history and authors); take the shadow for the substance (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:

Cite this entry: “took the shadow for the substance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/took_the_shadow_for_the_substance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.