English Reference

Idiom

wash a blackamoor white

Meaning

To labour in vain, especially so as to present something as better than it really is; to whitewash.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples

“Trying to change his bad reputation is like trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

“The company tried to hide its history of corruption, but it was like trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

“The politician's attempt to rebrand his disastrous legacy was a futile effort, akin to trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

Examples

simple

“Trying to change his bad reputation is like trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

contextual

“The company tried to hide its history of corruption, but it was like trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

complex

“The politician's attempt to rebrand his disastrous legacy was a futile effort, akin to trying to wash a blackamoor white.”

Key words

Related idioms

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English Reference