too good to be true

Idioms

So excellent that it defies belief, as in She loves all her in-laws? That's too good to be true. This term expresses the skeptical view that something so seemingly fine must have something wrong with it. The term was part of the title of Thomas Lupton's Sivquila; Too Good to be True (1580).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It wasn’t too good to be true, but it was too good to remain true.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026

But it turned out to be too good to be true: A quick bit of due diligence revealed that the buyer wasn’t all that he promised.

From MarketWatch • May 29, 2026

Investors began to wonder whether it was all too good to be true, and started poking holes in the narrative.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

Its advice is: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

From BBC • May 14, 2026

Part of me still worries this is all too good to be true.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023