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Glite Dictionary
to wrap in cotton wool

to wrap in cotton wool

1 7.9
To protect someone too much so they do not learn to deal with problems
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : sobreproteger
  • Stop trying to wrap in cotton wool your friend by shielding them from every setback.

It's almost as like he wants to keep this youth wrapped up in cotton wool, free from all of the sins of the world.

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Examples

  • If you wrap in cotton wool your team, they will never learn to handle pressure.

  • You spend your lives wrapped in cotton wool, you want to play at being adventurous.

    Sanctum (2011)

  • You wrapped him in cotton wool for too long.

    Drained (2024)

  • We wrapped her in cotton wool.

    The Gentlemen (2020)

  • Just wrap them in cotton wool and keep them safe forever.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • It's almost as like he wants to keep this youth wrapped up in cotton wool, free from all of the sins of the world.

    The British Museum

  • They did not wrap me up in cotton wool and protect me the way I think they probably wanted to at times.

    Molly Burke

  • We all know that anything could happen and your child won't walk around wrapped in cotton wool.

    Blog text (32)

  • You can't just wrap in cotton wool your child; they need to face challenges to grow.

Synonyms

to wrap up
vsto wrap in cotton wool
22 3.6

Cover something completely with paper, cloth or another material to protect it

is about overprotecting someone and stopping them from risks
to cocoon
vsto wrap in cotton wool
2 4.6

To wrap someone or something in soft material to keep it warm and safe

is excessive protection that prevents a person facing hardship

Antonyms

to expose
479 3.2

Put someone in a situation where they can be harmed by something

How Sheltered

to coddle
37 6.4
to wrap in cotton wool
  • UK
1 7.9
to shield
146 2.7
to protect
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

wrap in cotton wool infinitive
wrapped in cotton wool past
wrapped in cotton wool past participle
wrapping in cotton wool present participle
wraps in cotton wool third person singular

Morphology

wrap + in + cotton + wool

The constituents literally describe covering someone with a soft material—'wrap' + 'cotton wool'—so a learner who knows the words can readily infer a protective sense. However, the idiomatic nuance of excessive or overprotective care (preventing normal risk or difficulty) is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable from the parts, so it is only partially transparent to B1 learners.

Etymology

The phrase wrap in cotton wool paints the picture of someone being wrapped in soft cotton wool so they cannot get hurt. So it means 'to protect someone too much' and stops them from learning or facing normal risks.