Meanings
plural antiproverbs · alternative anti-proverb
- A humorous adaptation of one or more existing proverbs.
The system isn’t broken. It’s fixed.¶ Another species of anti-proverb, this one plays on the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” which seems to have emerged in the 1960s.
2015 April 16, David Shariatmadari, “Are these 11 proverbs for the digital age?”, in The Guardian - A proverb that contradicts another.
But for every proverb there is an antiproverb ("Too many cooks spoil the broth" vs. "Two heads are better than one," and so on).
1987, Howard Margolis, Patterns, Thinking, and Cognition: A Theory of Judgment, page 92
Origin
Coined by paremiologist Wolfgang Mieder in 1982, anti- + proverb.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish väännös sananlaskusta
- väännös sananlaskustaa humorous adaptation of a proverb
French antiparémie
- antiparémiea humorous adaptation of a proverb
German Antisprichwort
- Antisprichworta humorous adaptation of a proverb
Polish antyprzysłowie
- antyprzysłowiea humorous adaptation of a proverb
Portuguese antiprovérbio
- antiprovérbioa humorous adaptation of a proverb
Cite this entry
antiproverb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiproverb
“antiproverb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiproverb. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “antiproverb,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/antiproverb.
Source: antiproverb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.