Word.ws English Dictionary

a fool and his money are soon parted

a fool and his money are soon parted proverb: it is easy to obtain money from foolish people.

Proverb

a fool and his money are soon parted

  1. It is easy to obtain money from foolish people.
  2. It is difficult or unlikely that careless and irresponsible individuals will maintain their hold on acquired wealth.

Forms of a fool and his money are soon parted

alternative forma fool and his money
alternative forma fool and his money are easily parted

Origin of a fool and his money are soon parted

First appears c. 1587 in the publication Defense of the Government of the Church of England as If they pay a penie or two pence more for the reddinesse of them..let them looke to that, a foole and his money is soone parted. An earlier quote from 1573 by Thomas Tusser reads "A foole and his money be soone at debate: which after with sorow repents him too late."

Questions about a fool and his money are soon parted

What does a fool and his money are soon parted mean?
A fool and his money are soon parted means it is easy to obtain money from foolish people.
What part of speech is a fool and his money are soon parted?
A fool and his money are soon parted is a proverb.

Words near a fool and his money are soon parted in the dictionary

  1. a flat
  2. a flats
  3. A Fonsagrada
  4. a fool and his money
  5. a fool and his money are easily parted
  6. a fool and his money are soon parted
  7. a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds
  8. A for effort
  9. A formation
  10. a forteriori
  11. a fortiori

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a fool and his money are soon parted (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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