paint black


Represent someone or something as evil or harmful. This idiom is most often used in a negative context, as in He's not so black as he's been painted. [Late 1500s]

Words Nearby paint black

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use paint black in a sentence

  • To make her cheeks red and paint black lines in her eyes; then paint her lips and fingers red—these things hid her.

    Fantazius Mallare | Ben Hecht
  • No, he puts on his war paint—black suit and top hat most hideous—calls on his lawyer in a frantic passion, and goes to law!

    Curly | Roger Pocock
  • “Ay, it is none so difficult to paint black white,” saith Aunt Joyce.

    Joyce Morrell's Harvest | Emily Sarah Holt
  • If you cannot paint black cloth you could not have painted silken doublet.

    Essays and Lectures | Oscar Wilde
  • She does not paint black and white, but with human tints only in light and shadow.

    The Galaxy | Various