"better the devil you know than the devil you don't know" meaning in English

See better the devil you know than the devil you don't know in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Head templates: {{head|en|proverb}} better the devil you know than the devil you don't know
  1. Something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown. Synonyms: better the devil you know, better the devil you know than the devil you don't, better the devil you know than the one you don't, better the devil you know than the one you don't know, the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't know [rare], the devil you know is better than the devil you don't, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know, the devil we know is better than the devil we don't, the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know Translations (something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown): جني تعرفه ولا انسي ما تعرفه (english: Yemeni Proverb) (Arabic), 未知的危險比已知的危險更加可怕 (Chinese Mandarin), parempi tuttu kuin tuntematon paha (Finnish), man weiß, was man hat, aber weiß nicht, was man kriegt (German), schlimmer geht immer (German), اللي تعرفه خير من اللي متعرفاش (Libyan Arabic), już lepsze znane zło, niż dobro, które masz poznać (Polish), mai bun e un drac știut decât unul necunoscut (Romanian), más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer (Spanish), más vale diablo conocido que por conocer (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-better_the_devil_you_know_than_the_devil_you_don't_know-en-proverb-g~xfsuFJ Categories (other): English proverbs

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for better the devil you know than the devil you don't know meaning in English (3.2kB)

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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb"
      },
      "expansion": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown."
      ],
      "id": "en-better_the_devil_you_know_than_the_devil_you_don't_know-en-proverb-g~xfsuFJ",
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "better the devil you know"
        },
        {
          "word": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't"
        },
        {
          "word": "better the devil you know than the one you don't"
        },
        {
          "word": "better the devil you know than the one you don't know"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't know"
        },
        {
          "word": "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't"
        },
        {
          "word": "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know"
        },
        {
          "word": "the devil we know is better than the devil we don't"
        },
        {
          "word": "the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "english": "Yemeni Proverb",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "جني تعرفه ولا انسي ما تعرفه"
        },
        {
          "code": "ayl",
          "lang": "Libyan Arabic",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "اللي تعرفه خير من اللي متعرفاش"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "未知的危險比已知的危險更加可怕"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "note": "未知的危险比已知的危险更加可怕 (wèizhī de wēixiǎn bǐ yǐzhī de wēixiǎn gèngjiā kěpà) (no equivalent exists; lit., \"unknown dangers are more terrifying than known dangers\")",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "parempi tuttu kuin tuntematon paha"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "man weiß, was man hat, aber weiß nicht, was man kriegt"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "schlimmer geht immer"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "już lepsze znane zło, niż dobro, które masz poznać"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "mai bun e un drac știut decât unul necunoscut"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
          "word": "más vale diablo conocido que por conocer"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know"
}
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  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know",
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "better the devil you know"
    },
    {
      "word": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't"
    },
    {
      "word": "better the devil you know than the one you don't"
    },
    {
      "word": "better the devil you know than the one you don't know"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't know"
    },
    {
      "word": "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't"
    },
    {
      "word": "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know"
    },
    {
      "word": "the devil we know is better than the devil we don't"
    },
    {
      "word": "the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "english": "Yemeni Proverb",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "جني تعرفه ولا انسي ما تعرفه"
    },
    {
      "code": "ayl",
      "lang": "Libyan Arabic",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "اللي تعرفه خير من اللي متعرفاش"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "未知的危險比已知的危險更加可怕"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "note": "未知的危险比已知的危险更加可怕 (wèizhī de wēixiǎn bǐ yǐzhī de wēixiǎn gèngjiā kěpà) (no equivalent exists; lit., \"unknown dangers are more terrifying than known dangers\")",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "parempi tuttu kuin tuntematon paha"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "man weiß, was man hat, aber weiß nicht, was man kriegt"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "schlimmer geht immer"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "już lepsze znane zło, niż dobro, które masz poznać"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "mai bun e un drac știut decât unul necunoscut"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "más vale malo conocido que bueno por conocer"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "something bad and familiar is better than something bad and unknown",
      "word": "más vale diablo conocido que por conocer"
    }
  ],
  "word": "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (fc4f0c7 and c937495). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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