gild the lily

Cultural  

1. To adorn unnecessarily something that is already beautiful or perfect: “Morty had us all believing his tall tale until he couldn't resist gilding the lily.”

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gild the lily Idioms  

1. Add unnecessary adornment or supposed improvement. For example, Offering three different desserts after that elaborate meal would be gilding the lily. This expression is a condensation of Shakespeare's metaphor in King John (4:2): “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily ... is wasteful and ridiculous excess.” [c. 1800]

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Example Sentences

Not many of us had “Jeffrey Epstein” or “Ghislaine Maxwell” on our bingo cards — to mix metaphors while gilding the lily.

From Salon

Most supermarket hams are already fully cooked, which means your job isn’t to roast so much as to gild the lily.

From Salon

But in a way, all the giveaways and special events are just gilding the lily.

From Seattle Times

So here’s my Nana’s original no-frills recipe, without any fuss, any tweaks or anything to gild the lily.

From Salon

“The challenge of it was to try to go to that place but not gild the lily too much,” Scott says.

From Seattle Times