you can't judge a book by its cover

English

Alternative forms

• you can’t tell a book by its cover

Proverb

you can't judge a book by its cover

1. It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.

Translations

it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone

Croatian: ne sudi knjizi po koricama Danish: sku ikke hunden på hårene (da) Finnish: moni kakku päältä kaunis, (vaan on silkkoa sisältä) French: l’habit ne fait pas le moine Hebrew: אל תסתכל בקנקן, אלא במה שיש בו (he) (al tistakel bakankan, ela bema sheyesh bo) Italian: l’abito non fa il monaco Norwegian: man kan ikke dømme boken etter omslaget (no), man skal aldri skue hunden på hårene (no)

Portuguese: não se pode julgar um livro pela capa Romanian: nu haina face pe om Russian: не суди о книге по обложке (ru) (n'e sudí o kníg'e po oblóžk'e) Scottish Gaelic: 's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn Spanish: el hábito no hace al monje Swedish: man skall inte döma hunden efter håren, man ska inte döma boken efter omslaget Turkish: hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde (tr)