preach to the choir

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preach to the choir (third-person singular simple present preaches to the choir, present participle preaching to the choir, simple past and past participle preached to the choir)

1. (idiomatic) To speak as if to convince a person or group of something they already believe.
   • 1999 August 6, Frank Pellegrini, “Now the Tax Cut Is in the Hands of the Voters”, in Time:

     Jay Branegan says each side will be preaching to the choir. "Democrats will make the argument that's been successful with their base […] [that] Republicans are merely helping the rich."

   • 2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     It hardly needs saying that converting a Tory in a swingable “blue wall” constituency is electorally far more valuable than preaching to the choir in a Labour stronghold.

• Often used to imply that a speaker is addressing the wrong audience or is deliberately addressing a complaint to an already sympathetic audience.

• preach to the converted (less common)
• preach to the congregation

• preach to deaf ears
• beat a dead horse