Król jest nagi
Listen
What it means
“The king is naked.” Used when someone in power is exposed as having no real substance, competence, or moral authority — often after everyone has been pretending otherwise.
English equivalent
The emperor has no clothes.
Vocabulary
- król — king
- nagi — naked, bare
Grammar note
A simple nominative predicate construction. 'Nagi' agrees with 'król' in gender and number.
Cultural context
Directly references Hans Christian Andersen's tale, which entered Polish proverbial usage. Said when collective self-deception is finally broken.
Beginner
Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!
More Polish proverbs
- "A stepmother, even if made of sugar, is always bitter." No matter how kind a stepmother tries to …
- "For a wise head, two words are enough." A clever person needs only a brief hint to understand; …
- "A Pole is wise after the damage is done." Poles (or people in general) tend to learn from mistakes …
- "The wise will accept advice; the fool will scorn it." Intelligent people are open to counsel, while …