If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas (James Sandford, The Garden of Pleasure)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Associating with bad people will corrupt you
Literally: sleeping with dogs and getting their fleas
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 “If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas (James Sandford, The Garden of Pleasure)” mean?
Associating with bad people will corrupt you Literally: sleeping with dogs and getting their fleas
Is “If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas (James Sandford, The Garden of Pleasure)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.