a leopard can't change its spots
uh LEP-urd KANT CHAYNJ its SPOTS
ə ˈlɛpərd kɑːnt tʃeɪndʒ ɪts spɒtsListen
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Dictionary meaning
a person cannot fundamentally change their essential nature or character, no matter how much they or others might wish otherwise; from the Book of Jeremiah (13:23), which uses the impossibility of a leopard changing its spots as a metaphor for the unchangeability of habitual wrongdoing; the phrase expresses a deep scepticism about the possibility of genuine personal transformation, particularly regarding traits and behaviours that are understood as constitutive of character rather than merely habitual; it is most often invoked as a warning against trusting reformed behaviour in someone with a consistent history of harmful conduct
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