what you sow is what you reap

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Consequences match actions

Literally: farming harvest

Examples

If you're rude to others, what you sow is what you reap.

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 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “what you sow is what you reap” mean?

Consequences match actions Literally: farming harvest

Is “what you sow is what you reap” formal or informal?

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