Penny Wise And Pound Foolish Meaning, Best Examples With Usage

The English idiom ‘Penny Wise And Pound Foolish’ meaning is to someone who is excessively concerned with saving and gaining small amounts of money in the beginning but failing to save a considerable amount for the long-term consequences.

Penny means a small unit of currency or money in Britain and a Pound means a larger unit. The origin of this phrase is related to an old proverb, where a penny and a pound are compared. Pennywise means being careful and spending money wisely, saving every small amount possible. Whereas, pound foolish refers to someone spending too much money unwisely resulting in financial losses in the long run.

Also read – Hit the Sack Meaning, Examples, Synonyms, Quiz

Usage With Examples

The idiom penny wise and pound foolish is often used to criticize or bash an individual or organisation that is focusing on immediate cost saving and not worrying or thinking about the negative effects it will have in the long run. This idiom suggests that one focusing only on immediate or minor savings will eventually face financial setbacks and may miss out on future opportunities.

Below we have listed some examples of penny-wise and pound-foolish, where you will get an idea about how to use them appropriately.

• ‘My sister’s priority of immediate cost savings during the house renovation turned out to be a penny wise and pound foolish.’
• ‘Ram bought a cheap cell phone from a local store which stopped working after two days. His decision to save money turned out to be penny wise and pound foolish.’
• ‘Netizens are investing a lot in cryptocurrency which is now facing a downfall and is leading to a penny wise and pound foolish.’

Also read – Cry Wolf Meaning, Usage with Examples, Synonym

Synonyms and Similar Words to Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

The idiom ‘Penny wise and Pound Foolish’ has a lot of similar words and synonyms which can be used in different situations. Here’s a list of some of the most common similar words to the idiom penny wise and pound foolish.

• Cost-effective
• Money saving
• Closefisted
• Work-saving
• Parsimonious 

Also read – In For a Penny In For a Pound Meaning, Examples, Synonyms and Quiz

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish Meaning Quiz

Their penny-wise and pound-foolish strategy resulted in financial loss to the company and:

1. They decided to cut costs by reducing its research and development budget.
2. They have increased the salary of every employee.
3. Not every employee is paid equally.

Ans – They decided to cut costs by reducing its research and development budget.

This was all about the idiom penny wise and pound foolish meaning and examples. Hope you understood the concept where it’s used. For more such blogs, follow Leverage Edu.