to sail under false colors
- idiom
- Informal
:
navegar bajo falsas banderas
- She sailed under false colors by pretending to be a fellow employee, which allowed her to access confidential files.
Examples
-
By sailing under false colors, he managed to get into the exclusive event without an invitation.
-
I have been sailing under false colors.
-
The spy was sailing under false colors to gather sensitive information from competitors.
Synonyms
270
3.9
To make someone believe something that is not true to get an advantage
172
6.1
To pretend to be someone you are not to trick people
26
6.9
To pretend to be someone else to hide the truth
18
6.9
To make something or someone look real when they are not
7
8.2
To trick someone by hiding the truth
5
3.9
To put on clothes or a mask to hide who you are
3
6.0
Pretend to be a person or website online to trick people
1
6.4
To pretend to be or feel something to trick people
1
9.9
Pretend to be another person to trick people or act in a role
1
8.7
To trick someone by pretending to be something they are not
1
8.1
To trick someone who trusts you by hiding your real plans to get something for yourself
Antonyms
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal parts — 'sail' + 'under' + 'false' + 'colors' — describe the image of a ship sailing beneath fake flags, so a learner can plausibly infer a meaning related to deception. However, the specialized maritime sense of 'colors' = 'flag/identity' and the conventionalized extension to 'pretend to be someone/something else to gain advantage' are somewhat idiomatic and culturally specific, so the full meaning is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom sail under false colors may come from old sailors who would sail showing another ship's flag as their colors to look friendly and hide what they really wanted. That's why it now means 'to deceive others by pretending to be someone else'.