wade not in unknown waters

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Avoid situations you don't understand

Literally: to walk in unexplored or unfamiliar waters

Examples

She decided not to wade in unknown waters and stuck to her familiar routine.

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “wade not in unknown waters” mean?

Avoid situations you don't understand Literally: to walk in unexplored or unfamiliar waters

Is “wade not in unknown waters” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.