Chengyu
Browse 4217 vocabulary cards in Chengyu, with Chinese words, pinyin and meanings. Study this list with spaced repetition. — Page 23
Classical four-character idioms (成语). Best after you have a basic vocabulary.
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- 蹑手蹑脚 / 躡手躡腳 — niè shǒu niè jiǎo — to walk quietly on tiptoe (idiom)
- 进退维谷 / 進退維谷 — jìn tuì wéi gǔ — no room to advance or to retreat (idiom) · without any way out of a dilemma
- 迥然不同 — jiǒng rán bù tóng — widely different
- 金科玉律 — jīn kē yù lǜ — golden rule
- 闻风丧胆 / 聞風喪膽 — wén fēng sàng dǎn — hear the wind and lose gall (idiom) · terror-stricken at the news
- 除暴安良 — chú bào ān liáng — to root out the strong and give people peace (idiom) · to rob the rich and give to the poor
- 难上加难 / 難上加難 — nán shàng jiā nán — extremely difficult
- 顺水推舟 / 順水推舟 — shùn shuǐ tuī zhōu — literally to push the boat with the current
- 首屈一指 — shǒu qū yī zhǐ — to count as number one (idiom) · second to none
- 高瞻远瞩 / 高瞻遠矚 — gāo zhān yuǎn zhǔ — to stand tall and see far (idiom) · taking the long and broad view
- 魂飞魄散 / 魂飛魄散 — hún fēi pò sàn — literally the soul flies away and scatters (idiom)
- 一年到头 / 一年到頭 — yī nián dào tóu — all year round
- 一扫而空 / 一掃而空 — yī sǎo ér kōng — to make a clean sweep of · to clean out
- 一知半解 — yī zhī bàn jiě — to have a superficial knowledge of a subject · to know a smattering of something
- 一见如故 / 一見如故 — yī jiàn rú gù — familiarity at first sight
- 一览无遗 / 一覽無遺 — yī lǎn wú yí — be plainly visible
- 一鼓作气 / 一鼓作氣 — yī gǔ zuò qì — in a spurt of energy
- 三七二十一 — sān qī èr shí yī — three sevens are twenty-one (idiom)
- 三言两语 / 三言兩語 — sān yán liǎng yǔ — in a few words (idiom) · expressed succinctly
- 不修边幅 / 不修邊幅 — bù xiū biān fú — not care about one's appearance (idiom)
- 不假思索 — bù jiǎ sī suǒ — to act without taking time to think · to react instantly · to fire from the hip
- 不声不响 / 不聲不響 — bù shēng bù xiǎng — wordless · silent · taciturn · without speaking
- 不虚此行 / 不虛此行 — bù xū cǐ xíng — it's been a worthwhile trip
- 不露声色 / 不露聲色 — bù lù shēng sè — not show one's feeling or intentions
- 举棋不定 / 舉棋不定 — jǔ qí bù dìng — to hesitate over what move to make (idiom) · to waver
- 久闻大名 / 久聞大名 — jiǔ wén dà míng — your name has been known to me for a long time (polite)
- 五花八门 / 五花八門 — wǔ huā bā mén — myriad
- 以身试法 / 以身試法 — yǐ shēn shì fǎ — to challenge the law (idiom)
- 凶多吉少 — xiōng duō jí shǎo — everything bodes ill, no positive signs (idiom)
- 刻不容缓 / 刻不容緩 — kè bù róng huǎn — to brook no delay
- 反其道而行之 — fǎn qí dào ér xíng zhī — to do the very opposite · to act in a diametrically opposite way
- 吃喝玩乐 / 吃喝玩樂 — chī hē wán lè — to eat, drink, play and be merry (idiom)
- 周而复始 / 週而復始 — zhōu ér fù shǐ — literally the cycle comes back to the start (idiom) · to move in circles
- 多多益善 — duō duō yì shàn — the more the better
- 大声疾呼 / 大聲疾呼 — dà shēng jí hū — to call loudly (idiom) · to get people's attention · to make one's views known
- 大言不惭 / 大言不慚 — dà yán bù cán — to boast shamelessly
- 头头是道 / 頭頭是道 — tóu tóu shì dào — clear and logical
- 头晕眼花 / 頭暈眼花 — tóu yūn yǎn huā — to faint with blurred vision (idiom) · dizzy and eyes dimmed
- 如日中天 — rú rì zhōng tiān — literally like the sun at noon (idiom)
- 如火如荼 — rú huǒ rú tú — like wildfire (idiom)
- 嬉皮笑脸 / 嬉皮笑臉 — xī pí xiào liǎn — all smiles
- 审时度势 / 審時度勢 — shěn shí duó shì — to judge the hour and size up the situation
- 家破人亡 — jiā pò rén wáng — family bankrupt and the people dead (idiom) · ruined and orphaned
- 寥寥无几 / 寥寥無幾 — liáo liáo wú jǐ — very few
- 对症下药 / 對症下藥 — duì zhèng xià yào — literally to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom) · figuratively to study a problem to find the right way to solve it
- 座无虚席 / 座無虛席 — zuò wú xū xí — literally a banquet with no empty seats
- 异国他乡 / 異國他鄉 — yì guó tā xiāng — foreign lands and places (idiom) · living as expatriate
- 当机立断 / 當機立斷 — dāng jī lì duàn — to make prompt decisions (idiom)
- 得不偿失 / 得不償失 — dé bù cháng shī — the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)
- 心中有数 / 心中有數 — xīn zhōng yǒu shù — to know what's going on