pound-foolishadj.

1598 F. Meres tr. Luis de Granada Sinners Guyde ii. ii. xvii. 490 Least he (as it is wont to be sayd) be penny wise and pound foolish, least he I say, gather ashes, and cast away flower.

1600 R. C. Godlie Househ. Govt. 269 This is (as the common saying is) to be penny-wise, and pound-foolish: to saue a sticke, and burne a house.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 609 If by covetousnesse or negligence, one withdraw from them their ordinary foode, he shall be penny wise, and pound foolish.

1631 T. Dekker (title) Penny-wise, Pound foolish: Or a Bristow Diamond set in two Rings, and both crackt.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 295. ¶6 I think a Woman who will give up her self to a Man in Marriage, where there is the least room for such an Apprehension,..may very properly be accused..of being Penny Wise and Pound Foolish.

1771 A. M. E. Cooke Hermit Converted 48 Wou'd you save a penny to lose a pound? Penny wise and pound foolish.

1805 F. Reynolds Delinquent v. i. 63 What! save my honour at the loss of honesty! Come, come, sir, I'm not penny wise and pound foolish either.

1857 F. L. Olmsted Jrnl. Texas vii. 416 Such an air of delinquency and pound-foolish repudiation, hangs over the young financial character of Texas, that capital is extremely shy.

1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim iii. 23 You would let a good man die sooner than give him a drop of shnaps. That's what you Germans call economy. Penny wise, pound foolish.

1934 Amer. Home July 68a/2 (advt.) Don't be penny wise and pound foolish in choosing automatic heat.

2004 Amer. Scholar Winter 79 Aspiring nuclear nations try for gaseous diffusion, quickly realize that it's a pound-foolish project.