# blind leading the blind

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/blind-leading-the-blind
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A situation in which an unqualified person is attempting to guide, advise, or train others.

## Examples

- The new manager knows nothing, so it is the blind leading the blind.
- None of us had ever used the software before, so the training session felt like the blind leading the blind.
- By allowing inexperienced students to mentor one another without any faculty supervision, the department created a situation that was truly the blind leading the blind.

## Origin

The concept is ancient, occurring in the Upanishads between 800 BCE and 200 BCE. The Katha Upanishad describes fools who, abiding in the midst of ignorance while thinking themselves wise, go aimlessly hither and thither like the blind led by the blind. A similar expression appears in the Buddhist Pali Canon, composed in North India and preserved orally until it was committed to writing in Sri Lanka during the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE. The Roman lyric poet Horace, writing during the time of Augustus between 27 BCE and 14 CE, employed the Latin phrasing caecus caeco dux, or the blind leader of the blind. The specific English phrasing appears in the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew, 15:14, the text reads: Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.