you can't judge a book by its cover

English

Alternative forms

• you can’t tell a book by its cover
• don’t judge a book by its cover

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Proverb

you can't judge a book by its cover

1. (idiomatic, figurative) It is not possible to make reliable judgments about things or people by considering external appearances alone.

Synonyms

• clothes don't make the man
• the cowl does not make the monk
• all that glitters is not gold
• looks can be deceiving
• appearances are deceptive
• don't just scratch the surface
• anything essential is invisible to the eyes.
• one sees clearly only with the heart.

Antonyms

• clothes maketh the man
• fine feathers make fine birds

Translations

it is not possible to judge things by external appearances alone

• Arabic: لَا تَحْكُم عَلَى كِتَابِ مِِنْ غِلَافِهِ (lā taḥkum ʕalā kitābi miin ḡilāfihi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 人不可貌相 (zh) (bùyào yǐmàoqǔrén)

• Czech: nesuď knihu podle obalu
• Danish: man skal ikke skue hunden på hårene
• Finnish: ei ole koiraa karvoihin katsominen (fi), moni kakku päältä kaunis (fi)
• French: l’habit ne fait pas le moine (fr)
• Greek: τα φαινόμενα απατούν (ta fainómena apatoún), το ράσο δεν κάνει τον παπά (to ráso den kánei ton papá)

  Ancient Greek: πώγων οὐ ποιεῖ φιλόσοφον (pṓgōn ou poieî philósophon)

• Hebrew: אַל תִּסְתַּכֵּל בַּקַּנְקַן אֶלָּא בַמֶּה שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ (he) (ál tistakél baqanqán, éla bamé sheyésh bó, literally “Don't look at the jug, but at what's inside it.”)
• Hindi: जाति ना पूछो साधु की; पूछ लीजिए ज्ञान (jāti nā pūcho sādhu kī; pūch lījie jñān, literally “Ask not a saint of his caste; rather, of his knowledge.”)
• Hungarian: ne a borító alapján ítéld meg a könyvet
• Icelandic: þú getur ekki rannsakað hund eftir hárinu
• Irish: go minic bíonn croí geal i gcraiceann donn
• Italian: l'abito non fa il monaco, non giudicare un libro dalla copertina, non giudicare dalle apparenze
• Japanese: 看板に偽りなし (kanban ni itsuwari nashi)
• Latin: barba non facit philosophum
• Lithuanian: nespręsk apie knygą iš viršelio
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: man kan ikke dømme boken etter omslaget, man skal aldri skue hunden på hårene (no)

• Polish: nie oceniaj książki po okładce
• Portuguese: não se pode julgar um livro pela capa (pt)
• Romanian: nu haina îl face pe om
• Russian: не суди́ о кни́ге по обло́жке (ne sudí o kníge po oblóžke)
• Scottish Gaelic: 's tric a bhios cridhe gheal ann an seiche dhonn
• Serbo-Croatian: ne sudi knjizi po koricama
• Slovak: nesúď knihu podľa obalu
• Slovene: ne sodi knjige po platnicah
• Spanish: el hábito no hace al monje
• Swedish: man skall inte döma hunden efter håren , man ska inte döma boken efter omslaget
• Tagalog: mapanlinlang ang panlabas na anyo
• Turkish: hayvanın alacası dışında, insanın alacası içinde
• Ukrainian: не судіть про книгу за її обкладинкою (ne suditʹ pro knyhu za jiji obkladynkoju)
• Urdu: ذات نہ پوچھو سادھو کی؛ پوچھ لیجئے علم (zāt nā pūcho sādhu kī; pūch lījie ilm)