Word.ws English Dictionary

better safe than sorry

Syllables: bet·ter safe than sor·ry

better safe than sorry proverb: it is preferable to be cautious in one's choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.

Proverb

better safe than sorry

  1. It is preferable to be cautious in one's choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.
    • 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.1947 September and October, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 320
    • But I'll be stumbling away / Slowly learning that life is OK / Say after me / It's no better to be safe than sorry1985, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, “Take On Me”, in Hunting High and Low, performed by a-ha

better safe than sorry meaning in Urdu, Malay and Vietnamese

better safe than sorry in Urdu

it is preferable to be cautious
دیر آئے درست آئے der ā'ye durust ā'ye

better safe than sorry in Malay

it is preferable to be cautious
biar lambat asalkan selamat

better safe than sorry in Vietnamese

it is preferable to be cautious
cẩn tắc vô ưu, cẩn tắc vô áy náy

Words that rhyme with better safe than sorry

Questions about better safe than sorry

What does better safe than sorry mean?
Better safe than sorry means it is preferable to be cautious in one's choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.
What is better safe than sorry in Urdu?
Better safe than sorry in Urdu is دیر آئے درست آئے (der ā'ye durust ā'ye). See Better safe than sorry meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is better safe than sorry?
Better safe than sorry is a proverb.

Words near better safe than sorry in the dictionary

  1. better natured
  2. better off
  3. better one word in time than two afterwards
  4. better part of
  5. better place
  6. better safe than sorry
  7. better safe then sorry
  8. Better Sleep Month
  9. better than a kick in the teeth
  10. better than a poke in the eye
  11. better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: better safe than sorry (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-better safe than sorry.ogg.

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