Paint The Lily (Verb)
Meaning 1
Adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful).
Classification
Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing.
Examples
- The delicate flower arrangement already exuded elegance, so adding more gems would only serve to paint the lily.
- Her stunning wedding dress was already a work of art, but the excessive amount of jewelry seemed to paint the lily.
- The breathtaking view of the sunset at the beach needed no embellishment, yet the loud music and decorations seemed to paint the lily.
- The beautiful historic mansion's architecture spoke for itself, so the gaudy modern art installations only served to paint the lily.
- The talented actress's raw emotion brought the character to life, making the melodramatic special effects a futile attempt to paint the lily.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Make unnecessary additions to what is already complete.
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- She was worried that adding more decorations would paint the lily and detract from the simplicity of the design.
- The script was perfect as it was, but the director insisted on adding more dialogue which only served to paint the lily.
- The chef resisted the temptation to add extra garnishes that would paint the lily and instead allowed the natural flavors to shine through.
- The designer felt that the additional patterns on the walls would paint the lily and compete with the beautiful artwork.
- The writer was proud of her work and didn't want to paint the lily with unnecessary adverbs and flowery language.