in else's shoes

in someone else's shoes

set phrase Imagining oneself in the situation or circumstances of another person so as to understand or empathize with their perspective, opinion, or point of view. If you haven't spent time in someone else's shoes, how can you judge them? You're so selfish! Do you ever put yourself in someone else's shoes? Because none of us can ever actually be in someone else's shoes, we can never truly know what they're going through.

See also: shoe, someone

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

in someone else's shoes

 and in someone else's place

Fig. seeing or experiencing something from someone else's point of view. (See also in a bind and the examples.) You might feel different if you were in her shoes. Pretend you're in Tom's place, and then try to figure out why he acts the way he does.

See also: shoe

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.