To grin like a Cheshire cat
Preserved but no longer current.
An old simile, popularized by Lewis Carroll : — "Please would you tell me," said Alice a little timidly, . . . "why your cat grins like that?" "It's a Cheshire cat," said the Duchess, "and that's why.'* — Alice in Wonderland (1865), ch. vi.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “To grin like a Cheshire cat” mean?
An old simile, popularized by Lewis Carroll : — "Please would you tell me," said Alice a little timidly, . . . "why your cat grins like that?" "It's a Cheshire cat," said the Duchess, "and that's why.'* — Alice in Wonderland (1865), ch. vi.
Is “To grin like a Cheshire cat” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.