DEFINITIONS

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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Words nearby can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

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 a silk purse out of a sow's ear, 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.