(there's) no fool like an old fool

(there's) no fool like an old fool

An older person who makes foolish decisions is especially at fault, as experience should have taught them not to do such things. My grandfather got caught trying to buy weed from some kids in the neighborhood. No fool like an old fool, eh? There's no fool like an old food—what did you think would happen if you tried to hide your profits to avoid the taxes?

See also: fool, like, no, old

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

There's no fool like an old fool.

Prov. Cliché Old people are supposed to be wise, so if an old person behaves foolishly, it is worse than a young person behaving foolishly. As old Mrs. Fleischman watched her husband try to dance the way their grandchildren danced, she muttered, "There's no fool like an old fool."

See also: fool, like, no, old

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

no fool like an old fool, there's

An old fool is the worst kind of fool, as in He's marrying a woman fifty years his junior-there's no fool like an old fool. This adage, now considered somewhat offensive for stereotyping old people, appeared in John Heywood's 1546 proverb collection and has been repeated ever since.

See also: fool, like, no, old

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

there's no fool like an old fool

the foolish behaviour of an older person seems especially foolish as they are expected to think and act more sensibly than a younger one. proverb

See also: fool, like, no, old

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

(there’s) ˌno fool like an ˈold fool

(saying) an older person who behaves foolishly appears more foolish than a younger person who does the same thing, because experience should have taught him not to do it: Fred is going to marry a woman thirty years younger than him. There’s no fool like an old fool.

See also: fool, like, no, old

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

there's no fool like an old fool

Foolishness does not abate with age. This observation was already a proverb when John Heywood amassed his 1546 proverb collection. It has been repeated ever since.

See also: fool, like, no, old

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer