penny wise

A person who is penny wise might refuse to buy a needed new coat.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Careful with small amounts of money: "penny wise" describes a person who is very cautious and economical about minor or trivial expenses, often to the point of being overly frugal.
   • Short-sighted in financial matters: It implies a focus on saving small sums while potentially ignoring larger, more significant costs or benefits.

Usage Examples

• (She saves small amounts but wastes larger sums.)
• (Focusing on trivial savings may cause bigger losses.)

Advanced Usage

• "penny wise and pound foolish": An idiomatic expression meaning someone who is careful with small amounts of money but wasteful or careless with large amounts.
  • He refused to pay for a minor repair, but now the entire machine is broken — truly penny wise and pound foolish. (He saved a little but lost a lot.)

Variants and Related Words

• Penny-wise (adj): Alternative spelling with a hyphen, used identically.
• Penny-pinching (adj): Excessively frugal, often with a negative connotation.
  • Her penny-pinching habits made her unpopular among friends. (She was overly stingy.)

Synonyms

• Frugal: careful with money or resources.
• Economical: spending money wisely and without waste.
• Stingy: unwilling to spend money, often negatively.

Antonyms

• Spendthrift: a person who spends money in an extravagant or wasteful way.
• Profligate: recklessly extravagant or wasteful.

Related Idioms

• "Watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves": A proverb suggesting that careful attention to small expenses leads to overall financial health.

  • She saved every coin, believing that watching the pennies would make her wealthy. (She focused on small savings for long-term gain.)

• "A penny saved is a penny earned": A saying that emphasizes the value of saving money.

  • By turning off lights, he lived by the motto that a penny saved is a penny earned. (He valued saving over earning.)