# miss the woods for the trees

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/miss-the-woods-for-the-trees
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Alternative form of cannot see the forest for the trees.

## Examples

- You focus on small details and miss the woods for the trees.
- The manager spent all day fixing minor typos and missed the woods for the trees regarding the project's main goal.
- By obsessing over the individual components of the legal argument, the lawyer missed the woods for the trees and failed to address the core injustice of the case.

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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.