Phrase guide

as a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

proverb

Meaning 1

Foolish people repeatedly do foolish things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

* 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Book of Proverbs, 26:11 *: As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Originally from Hebrew: *::כְּכֶלֶב שָׁב עַל קֵאוֹ כְּסִיל שׁוֹנֶה בְאִוַּלְתּוֹ