Word.ws English Dictionary

once bitten, twice shy

once bitten, twice shy proverb: one is cautious if one has been hurt in the past.

Proverb

once bitten, twice shy

  1. One is cautious if one has been hurt in the past.
    Synonyms:
    a burnt child dreads the fire, the burnt child dreads the fire, a beaten dog may cower before a friendly hand

once bitten, twice shy meaning in Hindi, Tamil and Bengali

once bitten, twice shy in Hindi

one is cautious in the future if hurt in the past — see also a burnt child dreads the fire
दूध का जला छाछ भी फूँक फूँक कर पीता है dūdh kā jalā chāch bhī phū̃k phū̃k kar pītā hai

once bitten, twice shy in Tamil

ஒரு காரியத்தைச் செய்து

once bitten, twice shy in Bengali

one is cautious in the future if hurt in the past — see also a burnt child dreads the fire
ঘর পোড়া গরু সিঁদুরে মেঘ দেখে ডরায় ghor pōṛa goru śĩdure megh dekhe ḍoraẏ

Synonyms of once bitten, twice shy

Forms of once bitten, twice shy

alternative formonce burned, twice cautious
alternative formonce burned, twice shy
alternative formonce hurt, twice shy

Questions about once bitten, twice shy

What does once bitten, twice shy mean?
Once bitten, twice shy means one is cautious if one has been hurt in the past.
What is once bitten, twice shy in Hindi?
Once bitten, twice shy in Hindi is दूध का जला छाछ भी फूँक फूँक कर पीता है (dūdh kā jalā chāch bhī phū̃k phū̃k kar pītā hai). See Once bitten, twice shy meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is once bitten, twice shy?
Once bitten, twice shy is a proverb.

Words near once bitten, twice shy in the dictionary

  1. once and again
  2. once and away
  3. once and awhile
  4. once and for all
  5. once at a time
  6. once bitten, twice shy
  7. Once Brewed
  8. once burned, twice cautious
  9. once burned, twice shy
  10. once for all
  11. once hurt, twice shy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: once bitten, twice shy (page history and authors); once bitten, twice shy (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-once bitten, twice shy.ogg.

Cite this entry: “once bitten, twice shy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/once_bitten%2C_twice_shy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.