Phrase guide

be careful what you wish for

phrase · 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.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

phrase

Meaning 1

The desired outcome may not be as desirable once it has been attained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: внимавай какво си пожелаваш (vnimavaj kakvo si poželavaš) — Translations
  • Finnish: varo mitä toivot, se voi toteutua — Translations
  • Polish: uważaj, czego pragniesz — Translations
  • Polish: uważaj na marzenia — Translations
  • Portuguese: cuidado com o que você deseja — Translations
  • Portuguese: cuidado com o que desejas — Translations
  • Romanian: ai grijă ce-ți dorești — Translations
  • Russian: будь осторожна с желаниями (budʹ ostorožna s želanijami) — Translations
  • Spanish: ¿no querías caldo? ¡pues toma dos tazas! — Translations
  • Zazaki: to çı waşto ey diqet kı — Translations