Meaning & use
walking in someone's shoes
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
Imagining or experiencing life from another person's perspective, especially to understand their feelings.
Grammar: Used as a fixed phrase, often after verbs like 'try' or in the expression 'before you judge'.
Patterns
- walking in someone's shoes
- try walking in someone's shoes
Before you criticize her, try walking in her shoes for a day.
Walking in someone's shoes can help you understand their decisions.
The teacher asked the students to imagine walking in the shoes of a refugee.
Common combinations
- try walking in someone's shoes
- Try walking in my shoes before you complain about my choices.
- imagine walking in someone's shoes
- Imagine walking in her shoes for just one day.
- walking in someone's shoes for a day
- Walking in his shoes for a day would change your view.
Synonyms and how they differ
- put yourself in someone's position
- More formal; means the same but uses 'position' instead of 'shoes'.
- see things from someone's point of view
- Focuses on perspective rather than experiencing life as them.
Commonly confused: walking in someone's shoes or fill someone's shoes?
walking in someone's shoes vs fill someone's shoes
To fill someone's shoes means to take over their job or role successfully; it does not mean empathizing.
Practice
What does 'walking in someone's shoes' mean?
Choose one answer.
The idiom means to empathize with someone by imagining their experiences. The other options are literal and do not capture the figurative meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “walking in someone's shoes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.