willful waste makes woeful want
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Reckless spending leads to poverty and suffering
Literally: intentional waste causes sad lack
Examples
The family's willful waste makes woeful want, now they struggle to pay bills
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 “willful waste makes woeful want” mean?
Reckless spending leads to poverty and suffering Literally: intentional waste causes sad lack
Is “willful waste makes woeful want” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.