English

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒɹi
  • Hyphenation: bet‧ter safe than sor‧ry

Proverb

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better safe than sorry

  1. It is preferable to be cautious in one's choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.
    • 1947 September and October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 320:
      Moreover, apart from official restrictions, drivers do not a little easing of their engines on their own account, where they consider that the feel of the track makes this desirable; and they can hardly be blamed in consequence. It is better to be safe than sorry.
    • 1985, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (lyrics and music), “Take On Me”, in Hunting High and Low, performed by a-ha:
      But I'll be stumbling away / Slowly learning that life is OK / Say after me / It's no better to be safe than sorry

Translations

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See also

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  NODES
see 2