Word.ws English Dictionary

you can't polish a turd

you can't polish a turd proverb: something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.

Proverb

you can't polish a turd

  1. (idiomatic, vulgar) Something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.

Synonyms of you can't polish a turd

Questions about you can't polish a turd

What does you can't polish a turd mean?
You can't polish a turd means something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.
What part of speech is you can't polish a turd?
You can't polish a turd is a proverb.

Words near you can't polish a turd in the dictionary

  1. you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear
  2. you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
  3. you can't make this stuff up
  4. you can't make this up
  5. you can't outrun your fork
  6. you can't polish a turd
  7. you can't polish shit
  8. you can't pour from an empty cup
  9. you can't put a wise head on young shoulders
  10. you can't put an old head on young shoulders
  11. you can't put the shit back in the horse

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: you can't polish a turd (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-you can't polish a turd.ogg.

Cite this entry: “you can't polish a turd.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/you_can%27t_polish_a_turd. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.