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

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 28 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!