Man thinks, God laughs
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Human plans are often thwarted by fate or a higher power
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Kế hoạch con người thường bị số phận hoặc một quyền lực cao hơn cản trở
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: A person making plans, while God mocks them
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 “Man thinks, God laughs” mean?
Human plans are often thwarted by fate or a higher power Literally: A person making plans, while God mocks them
Is “Man thinks, God laughs” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.