great fleas have lesser fleas
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
No matter what our station in life, we all have some "hangers on.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “great fleas have lesser fleas” mean?
No matter what our station in life, we all have some "hangers on.
Is “great fleas have lesser fleas” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.