proverb🎓 English idiom

once bitten, twice shy

cautious after a bad experience

What it means

Used to say that a bad experience makes a person extra cautious about repeating it. After being hurt or cheated once, someone becomes wary of a similar risk.

Examples

  • After his last business failed, he's reluctant to invest again; once bitten, twice shy.
  • She won't lend money to friends anymore: once bitten, twice shy.
  • Having been let down before, I double-check everything now; once bitten, twice shy.
  • He's wary of online dating after one bad date, once bitten, twice shy.

Where it comes from

A 19th-century proverb drawing on the image of an animal or person bitten once and therefore nervous about being bitten again.

Related idioms

#get cold feet#take it with a grain of salt#a taste of your own medicine#cry over spilled milk

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