can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
Be unable to turn something ugly or inferior into something attractive or of value, as in No matter how expensive his clothes, he still looks sloppy—you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. This expression was already a proverb in the mid-1500s.
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Nearby words
- can't do anything with,
- can't fight city hall,
- can't help,
- can't hit the broad side of a barn,
- can't hold a candle to,
- can't make head or tail of,
- can't punch one's way out of a paper bag,
- can't see beyond the end of one's nose.,
- can't see the forest for the trees,
- can't seem to
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.