emperor's new clothes

emperor's new clothes

English

Etymology

After The Emperor's New Clothes, a tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

Pronunciation

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Noun

emperor's new clothes pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) Something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored or that goes unacknowledged.
   • 2005, "Is an M&S suit the emperor's new clothes?," The Guardian (UK), 26 May,

     Marks & Spencer announced a 19% fall in annual profits on Tuesday.

   • 2005, Jeff Sabatini, "2006 Lexus RX 400h: The hybrid emperor's new clothes," New York Times, 31 Jul.,

Synonyms

• elephant in the room

Translations

something obvious and embarrassing that is politely ignored

Danish: kejserens nye klæder Finnish: keisarin uudet vaatteet Japanese: 裸の王様 (はだか・の・おおさま hadaka-no-ōsama) Portuguese: roupa nova do imperador f, roupas novas do imperador f Slovak: cisárove nové šaty Swedish: kejsarens nya kläder