Definition

Adjective: - Unwise in dealing with large sums: Being overly concerned with saving small amounts of money while being wasteful or negligent with much larger, more significant sums. It describes a lack of financial prudence where minor economies lead to major losses.

Usage

This adjective is used to describe a person, decision, or behavior that is penny-wise but pound-foolish. It is typically used in a critical or advisory context to point out flawed economic reasoning. It often appears in the full idiom "penny-wise and pound-foolish."

Examples

• Adjective:
  • It was a pound-foolish decision to skip the routine car maintenance; the resulting engine repair cost thousands.
  • The company's pound-foolish policy of buying the cheapest equipment led to constant breakdowns and lost productivity.
  • Don't be pound-foolish by refusing to hire a qualified accountant to save a fee; a mistake on your taxes could be far more costly.

Advanced Usage

• The term is almost exclusively used in the contrasting phrase "penny-wise and pound-foolish," which emphasizes the irony of being careful with trivial expenses (pennies) but careless with substantial ones (pounds).
  • His approach to the budget is penny-wise and pound-foolish; he'll argue over office supply costs but approve a flawed, expensive software system without review.

Variants and Related Words

• Penny-wise (adj): Careful or economical in small matters. Often used in conjunction with "pound-foolish."
• Short-sighted (adj): Lacking foresight or long-term planning, which can be a related concept.
• False economy (n): An action that saves money at the beginning but leads to greater costs in the long run.

Synonyms

• Imprudent: Not showing care for the consequences of an action.
• Short-sighted: Unable to see or plan for the long-term effects.
• Wasteful (in a specific, ironic sense): Causing waste through misprioritized frugality.

Related Idioms

• Penny-wise and pound-foolish: The full, standard idiom from which "pound-foolish" is derived. It means careful and economical in small matters but wasteful or extravagant in large ones.
  • Cutting corners on safety training is the very definition of being penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Adjective

1. unwise in dealing with large sums