gild the lily
The phrase "gild the lily" originates from a misquote of Shakespeare and refers to the act of adding unnecessary embellishments to something already perfect.
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Definition
C1General
(idiomatic)To add unnecessary decoration or improvement to something already excellent.
Example
- Adding more decorations to the cake would be gilding the lily; it's already beautiful.
- Her speech was perfect; trying to rewrite it would just be gilding the lily.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "gild the lily":