better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's wiser to say nothing than to speak and reveal one's ignorance
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Im lặng và bị cho là ngốc còn tốt hơn là nói ra và lộ sự vô trí
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt” mean?
It's wiser to say nothing than to speak and reveal one's ignorance
Is “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.