Word.ws English Dictionary

a watched pot never boils

a watched pot never boils proverb: a process appears to proceed more slowly if one waits for it rather than engaging in other activities.

Proverb

a watched pot never boils

  1. A process appears to proceed more slowly if one waits for it rather than engaging in other activities.

Synonyms of a watched pot never boils

Forms of a watched pot never boils

alternative forma watched pot never boils over

Origin of a watched pot never boils

Refers to the psychological effect of apparent time dilation when closely observing a process (pot being heated) while waiting for it to reach a final state (boiling).

Questions about a watched pot never boils

What does a watched pot never boils mean?
A watched pot never boils means a process appears to proceed more slowly if one waits for it rather than engaging in other activities.
What part of speech is a watched pot never boils?
A watched pot never boils is a proverb.

Words near a watched pot never boils in the dictionary

  1. a turkey voting for Christmas
  2. a twig in a bundle cannot be broken
  3. a twig in a bundle is unbreakable
  4. a vinculo matrimonii
  5. a watched kettle never boils
  6. a watched pot never boils
  7. a watched pot never boils over
  8. A wave
  9. A waves
  10. a wee bit
  11. a week from next Tuesday

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a watched pot never boils (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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