HE WHO HESITATES IS LOST Definition & Meaning

He who hesitates is lost

A person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether.

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

One who cannot come to a decision will suffer for it, as in I couldn't make up my mind, and now the offer has expired—he who hesitates is lost . Although the idea is undoubtedly older, the present wording is a misquotation or an adaptation from Joseph Addison's play Cato (1712): “The woman that deliberates is lost.”

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He who hesitates is lost. Procrastination is the thief of time.

From

Here in very truth is a case where "he who hesitates is lost!"

From

You know ‘he who hesitates is lost’—in this case, loses a great bargain.

From

He who hesitates is lost, they say.

From

I stood a second or two undecided whether to go or stay, and "he who hesitates is lost."

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse

�y��vlog