"hide one's light under a bushel" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Originally a reference to one of Jesus Christ’s parables recorded in Matthew 5:14–15, Mark 4:21–25, and Luke 8:16–18 of the Bible. For example, in the King James Version the passage from Matthew states (spelling modernized): “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel: but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.” The parable uses the imagery of a candle hidden under an overturned bushel (“a dry-measure vessel with a capacity of eight gallons”), and is interpreted as a call to Christians to set a good example through their actions that other people may come to believe in the faith.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hides one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hiding one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hid one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hidden one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hide<,,hid,hidden> one's light under a bushel"
      },
      "expansion": "hide one's light under a bushel (third-person singular simple present hides one's light under a bushel, present participle hiding one's light under a bushel, simple past hid one's light under a bushel, past participle hidden one's light under a bushel)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "hide"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Undetermined quotations with omitted translation",
          "parents": [
            "Quotations with omitted translation",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[1731, Augustus Hermannus Franke [i.e., August Hermann Francke], “Of the Signs and Effects which Discover the Fear of Man”, in [Anton Wilhelm Böhme], transl., Nicodemus: Or, A Treatise against the Fear of Man: […], 2nd English edition, Edinburgh: […] Thomas Lumisden and John Robertson, […], →OCLC, page 8",
          "text": "VVhen after all, a Man is fully convinced of Truth, and believes it in his Heart; yet, for Fear of Man, he hides this Light under a Bushel, by not confeſſing it before Men.\nUsed to refer to a person’s reluctance to share his faith with others.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1867 September, “History of the Foreign Missions of the Secession and United Presbyterian Church. By Rev. John McKerrow, D.D. Bridge of Teith. 8vo., pp. 528. Edinburgh: A. Elliot, 1867. [book review]”, in The Home & Foreign Record of the Canada Presbyterian Church, volume VI, number 11, Toronto, Ont.: […] [F]or the Committee, by Lovell & Gibson, […], →OCLC, page 362",
          "text": "He is singularly sparing in his correspondence, and unaccountably hides his light under a bushel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1910 September, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Pillingshot, Detective”, in Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere: Twenty-five Short Stories of School Life, Maidenhead, Berkshire: Porpoise Books, published 1997, pages 179–180",
          "text": "[Y]ou've got a bright, intelligent face. I shouldn't wonder if you weren't rather clever. Why do you hide your light under a bushel?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1950 March 13, Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., quotee, “The Congress: The Elephant Hunt”, in Thomas Stanley Matthews, editor, Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2009-07-05",
          "text": "If he has ever hidden his light under a bushel, I am not aware of it. I have not observed that he is of the shrinking-violet type …",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, David Daiches, “Introduction: Boswell’s Ambiguities”, in Greg Clingham, editor, New Light on Boswell: Critical and Historical Essays on the Occasion of the Bicentenary of The Life of Johnson, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, page 3",
          "text": "For all his enormous vanity, it can be said that [James] Boswell hid his true light under a bushel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Susan Mitchell Crawley, “Catalogue”, in Let It Shine: Self-taught Art from the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, Atlanta, Ga.: High Museum of Art, page 75",
          "text": "[P]rovoked by the hesitancy of a Pennsylvania friend to display his artistic talent, [Ned] Cartledge created this work. […] Cartledge accused him of hiding his light under a bushel and has inscribed the back of his panel: \"Modesty is for those without talent.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 December 12, Joanna Moorhead, “Sisters vow to end their silence”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-03-16",
          "text": "British soroptimists have hidden their light under a bushel: there's a feeling here that we shouldn't seek publicity because we'd be drawing attention to ourselves.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention."
      ],
      "id": "en-hide_one's_light_under_a_bushel-en-verb-c5-vyv4D",
      "links": [
        [
          "conceal",
          "conceal"
        ],
        [
          "positive",
          "positive#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "qualities",
          "quality#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "talent",
          "talent"
        ],
        [
          "due to",
          "due to"
        ],
        [
          "modesty",
          "modesty"
        ],
        [
          "shyness",
          "shyness"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "attention",
          "attention"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "shēncángbùlòu",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "深藏不露"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "sætte sit lys under en skæppe"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "pitää kynttiläänsä vakan alla"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "dissimuler son talent"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "faire preuve de modestie"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "mettre son talent sous le boisseau"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "véka alá rejt"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "véka alá rejti a tehetségét"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "sette sitt lys under en skjeppe"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "chować pod korcem"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "schować pod korcem"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "trzymać pod korcem"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zaryvátʹ svoj talánt v zémlju",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "зарыва́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zarýtʹ svoj talánt v zémlju",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "зары́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "sätta sitt ljus under skäppan"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
          "word": "sätta sitt ljus under ena skäppo"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Oxford University Press"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃ(ə)l/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʊʃəl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-hide one's light under a bushel.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hide one's light under a bushel"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Originally a reference to one of Jesus Christ’s parables recorded in Matthew 5:14–15, Mark 4:21–25, and Luke 8:16–18 of the Bible. For example, in the King James Version the passage from Matthew states (spelling modernized): “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel: but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.” The parable uses the imagery of a candle hidden under an overturned bushel (“a dry-measure vessel with a capacity of eight gallons”), and is interpreted as a call to Christians to set a good example through their actions that other people may come to believe in the faith.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hides one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hiding one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hid one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hidden one's light under a bushel",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hide<,,hid,hidden> one's light under a bushel"
      },
      "expansion": "hide one's light under a bushel (third-person singular simple present hides one's light under a bushel, present participle hiding one's light under a bushel, simple past hid one's light under a bushel, past participle hidden one's light under a bushel)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "hide"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms derived from the Bible",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "Rhymes:English/ʊʃəl",
        "Rhymes:English/ʊʃəl/8 syllables",
        "Undetermined quotations with omitted translation",
        "Undetermined terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "[1731, Augustus Hermannus Franke [i.e., August Hermann Francke], “Of the Signs and Effects which Discover the Fear of Man”, in [Anton Wilhelm Böhme], transl., Nicodemus: Or, A Treatise against the Fear of Man: […], 2nd English edition, Edinburgh: […] Thomas Lumisden and John Robertson, […], →OCLC, page 8",
          "text": "VVhen after all, a Man is fully convinced of Truth, and believes it in his Heart; yet, for Fear of Man, he hides this Light under a Bushel, by not confeſſing it before Men.\nUsed to refer to a person’s reluctance to share his faith with others.]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1867 September, “History of the Foreign Missions of the Secession and United Presbyterian Church. By Rev. John McKerrow, D.D. Bridge of Teith. 8vo., pp. 528. Edinburgh: A. Elliot, 1867. [book review]”, in The Home & Foreign Record of the Canada Presbyterian Church, volume VI, number 11, Toronto, Ont.: […] [F]or the Committee, by Lovell & Gibson, […], →OCLC, page 362",
          "text": "He is singularly sparing in his correspondence, and unaccountably hides his light under a bushel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1910 September, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Pillingshot, Detective”, in Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere: Twenty-five Short Stories of School Life, Maidenhead, Berkshire: Porpoise Books, published 1997, pages 179–180",
          "text": "[Y]ou've got a bright, intelligent face. I shouldn't wonder if you weren't rather clever. Why do you hide your light under a bushel?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1950 March 13, Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., quotee, “The Congress: The Elephant Hunt”, in Thomas Stanley Matthews, editor, Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2009-07-05",
          "text": "If he has ever hidden his light under a bushel, I am not aware of it. I have not observed that he is of the shrinking-violet type …",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991, David Daiches, “Introduction: Boswell’s Ambiguities”, in Greg Clingham, editor, New Light on Boswell: Critical and Historical Essays on the Occasion of the Bicentenary of The Life of Johnson, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, page 3",
          "text": "For all his enormous vanity, it can be said that [James] Boswell hid his true light under a bushel.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, Susan Mitchell Crawley, “Catalogue”, in Let It Shine: Self-taught Art from the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, Atlanta, Ga.: High Museum of Art, page 75",
          "text": "[P]rovoked by the hesitancy of a Pennsylvania friend to display his artistic talent, [Ned] Cartledge created this work. […] Cartledge accused him of hiding his light under a bushel and has inscribed the back of his panel: \"Modesty is for those without talent.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007 December 12, Joanna Moorhead, “Sisters vow to end their silence”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-03-16",
          "text": "British soroptimists have hidden their light under a bushel: there's a feeling here that we shouldn't seek publicity because we'd be drawing attention to ourselves.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "conceal",
          "conceal"
        ],
        [
          "positive",
          "positive#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "qualities",
          "quality#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "talent",
          "talent"
        ],
        [
          "due to",
          "due to"
        ],
        [
          "modesty",
          "modesty"
        ],
        [
          "shyness",
          "shyness"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "attention",
          "attention"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Oxford University Press"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃ(ə)l/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ʊʃəl"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-hide one's light under a bushel.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-hide_one%27s_light_under_a_bushel.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "shēncángbùlòu",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "深藏不露"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "sætte sit lys under en skæppe"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "pitää kynttiläänsä vakan alla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "dissimuler son talent"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "faire preuve de modestie"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "mettre son talent sous le boisseau"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "véka alá rejt"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "véka alá rejti a tehetségét"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "sette sitt lys under en skjeppe"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "chować pod korcem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "schować pod korcem"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "trzymać pod korcem"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zaryvátʹ svoj talánt v zémlju",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "зарыва́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zarýtʹ svoj talánt v zémlju",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "зары́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "sätta sitt ljus under skäppan"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents",
      "word": "sätta sitt ljus under ena skäppo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hide one's light under a bushel"
}