too good to be true

Idioms

So excellent that it defies belief, as in She loves all her in-laws? That's too good to be true. This term expresses the skeptical view that something so seemingly fine must have something wrong with it. The term was part of the title of Thomas Lupton's Sivquila; Too Good to be True (1580).

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It was too good to be true, of course.

From Barron's

"Customers were very cautious when I started selling tilapia, they thought it was too good to be true, but I told them, if you try it and don't like it, I'll refund you. I have not had to return any money yet", he said.

From BBC

"When profits were high, everyone became greedy," said Le, now 23, adding that "it was too good to be true".

From Barron's

If a free VPN seems too good to be true, it probably is.

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023