Don’t Judge a Book By It’s Cover': Definition, Meaning and Examples

Have you heard someone say, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover?’ Are you wondering what that means? Below, we’ll give you the definition and meaning, plus provide examples of how to use the phrase in a sentence correctly.

In short:

• ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ means you shouldn’t judge something or someone based on outward appearance.

Essentially, it means that you shouldn’t judge people or things prematurely (before you meet them or before giving them a chance).

What Does ‘Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover’ Mean?

‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a common American proverb that means you should give someone or something a chance before you make up your mind about them/it.

• You might hear someone say this when they’re trying to convince someone to do something.

For example, if you want your friend to come with you to an event they’ve never been to, but they’re being judgmental and making negative comments about it, you might tell them:

• 'Don’t judge a book by its cover. You never know. It could turn out to be more fun than you thought.'

The phrase is essentially a way to tell someone to be more open-minded about something or someone.

For example, if your mom hasn’t met your fiancé yet, you might tell her beforehand:

• 'Okay, mom. Be nice. Don’t judge a book by its cover. He’s a little rough around the edges.' 

In the movie, The Devil Wears Prada; Andy is often judged by her cover, so to speak.

The women in her world gawk at her attire throughout the first half of the movie, making her feel less than. You really feel for Andy as she struggles to navigate her first job in the fashion world.

Now that books get made into movies so often, you might also see the phrase:

'Never judge a book by its movie.'

It’s basically telling you not to judge the book by the movie because everyone knows the book is always better.

Where Does ‘Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover’ Come From?

The phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ comes from a 1944 edition of the African Journal of American Speech.

The first occurrence of the phrase reads:

You can’t judge a book by its binding.

The phrase became more popular when it appeared in the 1946 murder mystery novel, Murder in the Glass Room by Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe.

It read:

You can never tell a book by its cover.

However, other sources say that it appeared as early as 1860 in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss.

The passage containing the phrase reads:

‘The History of the Devil’ by Daniel Defoe; not quite the right book for a little girl,” said Mr. Riley, “How came it among your books, Tulliver?” Maggie looked hurt and discouraged, while her father said, “Why, it’s one o’ the books I bought at Partridge’s sale. They was all bound alike, it’s a good binding, you see, and I thought they’d be all good books. There’s Jeremy Taylor’s ‘Holy Living and Dying’ among ’em ; I read in it often of a Sunday.” (Mr. Tulliver felt somehow a familiarity with that great writer because his name was Jeremy); “and there ‘s a lot more of ’em, sermons mostly, I think ; but they ‘ve all got the same covers, and I thought they were all o’ one sample, as you may say. But it seems one mustn’t judge by th’ outside. This is a puzzlin’ world.

Examples of ‘Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover’ in Sentences

How would you use ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ in a sentence?

Let’s see some examples:

• I’m afraid to go on a date with this guy because his photos on the dating app make him look boring. But I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, should I?
• I don’t have any reason not to like you. I’m not the type of person to judge a book by its cover, so there must have been some kind of miscommunication at some point. I have no problems with you.
• I have a huge issue with judging books by their covers, literally. If a book doesn’t have a beautiful cover, I won’t pick it up. I’ll skip right over it and find the next pretty book.
• My niece made a mean comment about a homeless man. So, I told her, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover. You never know what he went through to end up there.’
• When we got a new teacher in the middle of the year, she looked a little crazy. Her hair was wild like Einstein’s. She asked us not to judge a book by its cover with her.
• I chose not to comment on my best friend’s sister’s outfit when I first met her. I tried to be nice and avoid judging a book by its cover.
• When we started making fun of an old guy at the park one day, a young woman scolded us and said, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover, boys. It’s not nice.’
• I ended up going to the book signing anyway, but the author speaking sounded like he was speaking gibberish. I almost wrote the whole event off and left, but I decided not to judge a book by its cover.

Other Ways to Say ‘Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover’

What other words or phrases convey the same meaning as ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’?

Let’s see some examples:

• Clothes don’t make the man
• The cowl does not make the work
• All that glitters is not gold
• Looks can be deceiving
• Beauty is only skin deep
• Appearances are often misleading
• Don’t be so judgmental
• Give things a chance before you write them off
• Be more understanding
• Try to be more tolerant
• Try to be open
• Don’t be prejudiced
• Be open-minded
• Try not to be so critical
• Don’t be so cynical
• Don’t be so biased
• Try to be more accepting
• Don’t discriminate

Concluding Advice on ‘Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover’

To recap, we learned the following:

• ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ means you shouldn’t judge something or someone based on outward appearance.

Remember, it means that you shouldn’t judge people or things prematurely (before you meet them or before giving them a chance).

If you ever forget any of this, you can always come back to review what you learned. We’ve got an entire library of content on other idioms that you might find helpful as you’re studying the language. Go check it out anytime.