"the lady doth protest too much" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet, where the line is spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. In the play, \"protest\" is used to mean \"insist that what one is saying is true\" (in this case, the Player Queen's protestations of love), not \"insist that what another is saying is false.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "the lady doth protest too much",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "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"
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          "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 redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "protest too much"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey",
          "text": "In all Penelope's devotion to her husband there is an ever present sense that the lady doth protest too much.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "It is suspected that, because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite of what he or she is saying must be true; a hit dog will holler."
      ],
      "id": "en-the_lady_doth_protest_too_much-en-phrase-2DSM-J~m",
      "links": [
        [
          "a hit dog will holler",
          "a hit dog will holler"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "the lady doth protest too much, methinks"
        },
        {
          "word": "methinks the lady doth protest too much"
        },
        {
          "word": "methinks thou dost protest too much"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "alt": "as-sayyida(t) taʕtariḍu ʔakṯar min al-lāzim",
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "السَّيِّدَة تَعْتَرِضُ أَكْثَر مِن اللَّازِم"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "此地無銀三百兩"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "此地无银三百两"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "hän vakuutteli mielestäni liiaksi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "se koira älähtää, johon kalikka kalahtaa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "la dame proteste un peu trop"
        },
        {
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "rosmas moito culpa tes"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "gallina che canta ha fatto l'uovo"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "a senhora protesta muito"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ledi dejstvitelʹno sliškom mnogo vystupajet.",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "леди действительно слишком много выступает."
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "la dama protesta mucho"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
          "word": "yr euog a ffy heb neb yn ei erlid"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "the lady doth protest too much"
}

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "protest too much"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet, where the line is spoken by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. In the play, \"protest\" is used to mean \"insist that what one is saying is true\" (in this case, the Player Queen's protestations of love), not \"insist that what another is saying is false.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "the lady doth protest too much",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English phrases",
        "English terms first attested in Shakespeare",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1897, Samuel Butler, The Authoress of the Odyssey",
          "text": "In all Penelope's devotion to her husband there is an ever present sense that the lady doth protest too much.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "It is suspected that, because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite of what he or she is saying must be true; a hit dog will holler."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "a hit dog will holler",
          "a hit dog will holler"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the lady doth protest too much, methinks"
    },
    {
      "word": "methinks the lady doth protest too much"
    },
    {
      "word": "methinks thou dost protest too much"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "alt": "as-sayyida(t) taʕtariḍu ʔakṯar min al-lāzim",
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "السَّيِّدَة تَعْتَرِضُ أَكْثَر مِن اللَّازِم"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "此地無銀三百兩"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "此地无银三百两"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "hän vakuutteli mielestäni liiaksi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "se koira älähtää, johon kalikka kalahtaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "la dame proteste un peu trop"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "rosmas moito culpa tes"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "gallina che canta ha fatto l'uovo"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "a senhora protesta muito"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ledi dejstvitelʹno sliškom mnogo vystupajet.",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "леди действительно слишком много выступает."
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "la dama protesta mucho"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "because someone is insisting too much about something, the opposite must be true",
      "word": "yr euog a ffy heb neb yn ei erlid"
    }
  ],
  "word": "the lady doth protest too much"
}