Penny wise and pound foolish

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Penny wise and pound foolish'?

Careful with one’s spending of small sums of money but careless and wasteful with larger amounts.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Penny wise and pound foolish'?

There isn’t a great deal to be said about the expression ‘penny wise and pound foolish’ other than it is approximately 500 years old and originated in England. It is first recorded in Francis Meres’ Luis de Granada’s Sinners Guyde, translated, or as Meres puts it ‘digested into English’, in 1598:

Least he (as it is wont to be sayd) be penny wise and pound foolish, least he I say, gather ashes, and cast away flower.

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Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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