Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)Someonewho orsomethingwhich isharmfulorthreateningbutdisguisedas somethingpeacefulorpleasant.Synonym:wolf in a lamb's skinAntonyms:paper tiger,sheep in wolf's clothing1659, Edward Burroughs [i.e.,Edward Burrough], “Some of the Principles of the Quakers (Scornfully so Called by Men) Vindicated, and Proved Sound, and True, According to the Scriptures:[...]”, inThe Memorable Works of a Son of Thunder and Consolation:[…],[London]:[Ellis Hookes], published1672,→OCLC,page452:He ſaith,He doth not plead for all who go under the name of Miniſters inEngland;he fears there is many of them no better thanWolves in Sheep's Clothing, &c.Then why doth he not come out, and cry againſt them, but remain amongſt them in their Practice? For wherein can he clear himſelf of any one thing, which they are guilty of, which he confeſſes areWolves in Sheep's Clothing? [...] I have as much ground to ſuſpect him to be one of theWolves in Sheep's Clothing, as he has ground to ſuſpect his own Companions and Generation to be ſuch.1785February 9,Richard Brinsley Sheridan(Member of Parliament forStafford), “[Proceedings relating to the Westminster Scrutiny]”, in [William Cobbett], editor,The Parliamentary History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1803.[…](House of Commons of the United Kingdom), volume XXV, London: Printed byT[homas]C[urson]Hansard,[…]forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown;[et al.], published1815,→OCLC,column47:If the wolf was to be feared, the learned gentleman might rest assured it would be thewolf in sheep's clothing, the masked pretender to patriotism. It was not from the fang of the lion, but from the tooth of the serpent, that reptile that insidiously steals upon the vitals of the constitution and gnaws it to the heart ere the mischief is suspected, that destruction was to be feared.1790February 24, Arthur Browne, “[Committee on the bill to continue an act passed in the 27th year of his present majesty, entitled an act for the better execution of the law and preservation of the peace within counties at large]”, inThe Parliamentary Register: Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons of Ireland,[…](Irish House of Commons), volume X, Dublin: Printed by P. Byrne,[…]; and J. Moore,[…],→OCLC,page310:The military power ſhould ever be kept diſtinct. We then ſee it, we know it by its proper name, we are on our guard, but when a power of a ſimilar kind intrudes itſelf upon us, under the name of a civil power, thewolf in ſheep's clothingdeceives and endangers us.1806,Thoughts on Deceit, Margate, Kent: Printed by J. Warren,[…],→OCLC,pages15–16:A deceitful man is awolf in sheep's clothing. He will appear innocent, cheerful, polite, attentive, kind, obliging, and abjectly condescending; but let him once get you into his power and he becomes more ferocious, more cruel, and more destructive than the most savage animals that ever trod in deserts uninhabited by rational beings.[1828May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter II, inChronicles of the Canongate. Second Series.[…](The Fair Maid of Perth), volume III, Edinburgh:[…][Ballantyne and Co.] forCadell and Co.; London:Simpkin and Marshall,→OCLC,page27:And if he preached other than the right doctrine, wherefore did his superiors in the Carthusian convent permit it? If the shepherds turn awolf in sheep's clothinginto the flock, they should not blame the sheep for being worried.]1836December 31, Laurie Todd, “Letter from Laurie Todd: Christmas and New-Year’s-Day”, inNew-York Mirror, a Weekly Journal, Devoted to Literature and the Fine Arts, volume XIV, number27, New York, N.Y.: Scott & Co., printers,→OCLC,page211, column 1:[H]ere, then, was a community of good taste and kind feeling, no sharpers, no black-legs, nowolves in sheep's clothing.[1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym;William Makepeace Thackeray], “The Overture—after which the Curtain Rises upon a Drinking Chorus”, inThe Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume I, London:Bradbury and Evans,[…],→OCLC,page 4:So the tales were told ages beforeÆsop: and asses under lion's manes roared in Hebrew; and sly foxes flattered in Etruscan; andwolves in sheep's clothinggnashed their teeth in Sanscrit, no doubt.]1978February 17,Thomas Eisner, Karen Hicks, Maria Eisner, Douglas S. Robson, “‘Wolf-in-Sheep’s-Clothing’ Strategy of a Predaceous Insect Larva”, inScience, volume199, number4330, Washington, D.C.:American Association for the Advancement of Science,→DOI,→ISSN,→JSTOR,→OCLC,→PMID, page793, columns1–2:The larvae, it seemed, had "passed" as aphids. Like "wolves in sheep's clothing" they appeared to have fooled the guardians of their prey.
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