English · Proverb Attested

the grass is always greener on the other side

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Also seen as: the grass is greener on the other side of the fence · the grass is always greener · the grass is always greener on the other side of the road

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Other people’s situations always look better than your own, usually mistakenly.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tình huống của người khác luôn看 có vẻ tốt hơn của bản thân, thường là sai lầm

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: Grass across the fence looks greener than your own.

How to use it

✓ Use it when

Cautioning against envy or restless dissatisfaction.

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

He keeps switching jobs, convinced the grass is always greener somewhere else.

Editorial example (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Equivalents & related

Direct equivalent đứng núi này trông núi nọ Never satisfied with what you have; always thinking somewhere or something else is better. Tiếng Việt

Topics: Trees & plants

Common questions

What does “the grass is always greener on the other side” mean?

Other people’s situations always look better than your own, usually mistakenly. Literally: Grass across the fence looks greener than your own.

Is “the grass is always greener on the other side” formal or informal?

the grass is always greener on the other side is generally neutral; connotation: cautionary.

What is the closest equivalent?

“đứng núi này trông núi nọ” (Tiếng Việt) — direct equivalent.