as black as one is painted
- idiom
- Archaic
:
no es tan malo como dicen
- They realized the company’s new manager wasn’t as black as one is painted after meeting her in person.
Examples
-
Despite the rumors, he is not as black as one is painted and has helped many people.
-
Everyone assumes the villain is evil, but she isn’t as black as one is painted.
-
He's not as black as one is painted!
-
Don't believe everything; he's not as black as one is painted.
-
Despite the rumors about his character, he is not as black as one is painted and is quite generous.
-
Many people think she's unfriendly, but she isn't as black as one is painted; she's just shy.
-
The public image of the politician wasn't accurate; he was not as black as one is painted once we got to know him.
Synonyms
Less bad than people often say
Antonyms
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
as + black + as + one + be + painted
The overall sense is partially derivable: 'black' can be understood metaphorically as 'bad' and 'painted' can be read as 'portrayed/described', so the idea 'not as bad as people paint/portray someone' follows from the parts. However, the fixed comparative construction 'as X as one is painted' and the figurative use of 'paint' are idiomatic enough that a B1 learner who only knows the literal word meanings may not reliably infer the intended meaning without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
As black as one is painted comes from the idea of 'painting' a person's image to make them look very black—that is, worse or more evil than they really are. So saying someone is not as black as one is painted means they are 'not as bad as people say'.