penny-wise Hear it!

penny-wise definition

penny-wise (pen′ē wīz′)

adjective

careful or thrifty in regard to small matters
penny-wise Idioms

penny-wise and pound-foolish

careful or thrifty in small matters but careless or wasteful in major ones

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.