Meaning & use
pound foolish
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
Caring too much about saving small amounts of money and therefore wasting much larger amounts.
Grammar: Used after the verb 'be' or before a noun: 'He is pound foolish' or 'a pound-foolish decision'. It is almost always part of the longer phrase 'penny wise and pound foolish'.
Patterns
- be pound foolish
- a pound-foolish decision
- penny wise and pound foolish
She bought the cheapest shoes she could find, but they fell apart in a month — that was pound foolish.
The company refused to spend money on staff training, which turned out to be penny wise and pound foolish.
Buying a cheap car that constantly breaks down is a pound-foolish choice.
Common combinations
- penny wise and pound foolish
- He saves a few dollars on groceries but pays for taxis every day — penny wise and pound foolish.
- a pound-foolish decision
- Cutting the maintenance budget was a pound-foolish decision.
- be pound foolish
- If you skip the health check to save money, you are being pound foolish.
Synonyms and how they differ
- short-sighted
- This means failing to think about the future in general, not specifically about money.
- wasteful
- This simply means using more than necessary; it does not carry the idea of trying to save small amounts.
Commonly confused: pound foolish or penny-pinching?
pound foolish vs penny-pinching
This means unwilling to spend money at all, often on necessary things. 'Pound foolish' is about saving small amounts and losing big ones, not about being generally stingy.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'pound foolish' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option B shows the key idea: saving money on cheap tools leads to spending more later. Option A describes someone who simply doesn't spend, which is 'penny-pinching', not 'pound foolish'. Options C and D have nothing to do with wasting money through small savings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pound foolish”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.