Leave well enough alone

If things are going tolerably well, leave them alone; your efforts to improve the situation may make things worse.

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, let well enough alone . Do not try to change something lest you make it worse. For example, This recipe has turned out fine in the past, so leave well enough alone . The idea behind this expression dates from ancient Greek times, specifically Aesop's fable about a fox who refused a hedgehog's offer to take out its ticks lest, by removing those that are full, other hungry ones will replace them. Put as let well alone from the early 1700s, it was first recorded as let well enough alone in 1827. Also see let sleeping dogs lie .

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Example Sentences

He shook his head unhappily as he said, "Why can't you leave well-enough alone?"

From Project Gutenberg

Since we are making a fairly good thing of it as we stand, why not leave well enough alone?

From Project Gutenberg

For that, for security and the right not to think, most people were willing to leave well enough alone.

From Project Gutenberg

Stifling my au revoir impulse I decided to leave well enough alone by taking that "Good-bye" literally.

From Project Gutenberg

Better leave well enough alone and quit the spot before he committed himself.

From Project Gutenberg

Word of the Day

April 19, 2024tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

Meaning and examples

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

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