penny-wise and/but pound-foolish

idiom

: careful about small amounts of money but not about large amounts
—used especially to describe something that is done to save a small amount of money now but that will cost a large amount of money in the future
The plans to cut funding are penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Dictionary Entries Near penny-wise and/but pound-foolish

penny-wise

penny-wise and/but pound-foolish

pennywort

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Cite this Entry

“Penny-wise and/but pound-foolish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penny-wise%20and%2Fbut%20pound-foolish. Accessed 23 Mar. 2023.

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