1
general::
Add unnecessary adornment or supposed improvement. For example, Offering three different desserts after that elaborate meal would be gilding the lily. This expression is a condensation of Shakespeare's metaphor in King John (4:2): "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily . . . is wasteful and ridiculous excess." [c. 1800]
American Heritage Idioms
2
general::
Phrase(s): gild the lily
Fig. to add ornament or decoration to something that is pleasing in its original state; to attempt to improve something that is already fine the way it is. (Often refers to flattery or exaggeration.) • Your house has lovely brickwork. Don’t paint it. That would be gilding the lily. • Oh, Sally. You’re beautiful the way you are. You don’t need makeup. You would be gilding the lily.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs