see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Avoid acknowledging or engaging in wrongdoing

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tránh thừa nhận hoặc tham gia vào việc làm sai trái

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a person covering their eyes, ears, and mouth
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English
Sources & notes

Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” mean?

Avoid acknowledging or engaging in wrongdoing Literally: a person covering their eyes, ears, and mouth

Is “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“quân tử trả thù, mười năm chưa muộn” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.