Chengyu
Browse 4217 vocabulary cards in Chengyu, with Chinese words, pinyin and meanings. Study this list with spaced repetition. — Page 56
Classical four-character idioms (成语). Best after you have a basic vocabulary.
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- 斗转星移 / 斗轉星移 — dǒu zhuǎn xīng yí — literally the Big Dipper 北斗星 Běi dǒu xīng has turned and the stars have moved
- 口齿不清 / 口齒不清 — kǒu chǐ bù qīng — to lisp
- 噤若寒蝉 / 噤若寒蟬 — jìn ruò hán chán — to keep quiet out of fear (idiom)
- 坚如磐石 / 堅如磐石 — jiān rú pán shí — solid as a boulder (idiom) · absolutely secure
- 下不了台 / 下不了臺 — xià bu liǎo tái — to be unable to extricate oneself gracefully
- 藕断丝连 / 藕斷絲連 — ǒu duàn sī lián — literally lotus roots may break, but the fiber remains joined (idiom) · lovers part, but still long for one another
- 以和为贵 / 以和為貴 — yǐ hé wéi guì — harmony is to be prized
- 打落水狗 — dǎ luò shuǐ gǒu — literally to beat a drowning dog (idiom)
- 借酒浇愁 / 借酒澆愁 — jiè jiǔ jiāo chóu — to drown one's sorrows
- 人模狗样 / 人模狗樣 — rén mú gǒu yàng — to pose
- 白驹过隙 / 白駒過隙 — bái jū guò xì — a white steed flits past a crack (idiom) · How time flies!
- 临阵脱逃 / 臨陣脫逃 — lín zhèn tuō táo — see 临阵退缩 lín zhèn tuì suō
- 见风使舵 / 見風使舵 — jiàn fēng shǐ duò — literally see the wind and set the helm (idiom) · figuratively to act pragmatically
- 难分难解 / 難分難解 — nán fēn nán jiě — to become caught up in an irresolvable situation (idiom)
- 天理难容 / 天理難容 — tiān lǐ nán róng — Heaven cannot tolerate this (idiom)
- 一派胡言 — yī pài hú yán — a bunch of nonsense
- 倾巢而出 / 傾巢而出 — qīng cháo ér chū — the whole nest came out (idiom) · to turn out in full strength
- 验明正身 / 驗明正身 — yàn míng zhèng shēn — to identify
- 化敌为友 / 化敵為友 — huà dí wéi yǒu — to convert an enemy into a friend (idiom)
- 狼子野心 — láng zǐ yě xīn — ambition of wild wolves (idiom) · rapacious designs
- 一哄而散 — yī hōng ér sàn — to disperse in confusion (idiom)
- 匠心独运 / 匠心獨運 — jiàng xīn dú yùn — original and ingenious (idiom)
- 病从口入 / 病從口入 — bìng cóng kǒu rù — Illness enters by the mouth (idiom). Mind what you eat!
- 自身难保 / 自身難保 — zì shēn nán bǎo — powerless to defend oneself (idiom) · helpless
- 飞来横祸 / 飛來橫禍 — fēi lái hèng huò — sudden and unexpected disaster (idiom)
- 投鼠忌器 — tóu shǔ jì qì — literally to refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases (idiom)
- 挥霍无度 / 揮霍無度 — huī huò wú dù — to squander recklessly · to spend extravagantly
- 三从四德 / 三從四德 — sān cóng sì dé — Confucian moral injunctions for women, namely: obey in turn three men father, husband and son, plus the four virtues of morality 德 dé, physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功
- 惩前毖后 / 懲前毖後 — chéng qián bì hòu — literally to punish those before to prevent those after (idiom) · to criticize former mistakes firmly to prevent them happening again
- 天作之合 — tiān zuò zhī hé — a match made in heaven (idiom)
- 心猿意马 / 心猿意馬 — xīn yuán yì mǎ — literally heart like a frisky monkey, mind like a cantering horse (idiom) · figuratively capricious (derogatory)
- 冰雪聪明 / 冰雪聰明 — bīng xuě cōng ming — exceptionally intelligent
- 胡编乱造 / 胡編亂造 — hú biān luàn zào — to concoct a cock-and-bull story (idiom)
- 首善之区 / 首善之區 — shǒu shàn zhī qū — the finest place in the nation (often used in reference to the capital city)
- 虽败犹荣 / 雖敗猶榮 — suī bài yóu róng — honorable even in defeat (idiom)
- 不二法门 / 不二法門 — bù èr fǎ mén — the one and only way
- 一醉方休 — yī zuì fāng xiū — to get thoroughly drunk (idiom) · to get plastered
- 五花大绑 / 五花大綁 — wǔ huā dà bǎng — to bind a person's upper body, with arms tied behind the back and rope looped around the neck · to truss up
- 叫苦连天 / 叫苦連天 — jiào kǔ lián tiān — to whine on for days (idiom)
- 窗明几净 / 窗明几淨 — chuāng míng jī jìng — literally clear window and clean table (idiom)
- 不胜其烦 / 不勝其煩 — bù shèng qí fán — to be pestered beyond endurance
- 倒背如流 — dào bèi rú liú — to know by heart (so well that you can recite it backwards)
- 屁滚尿流 / 屁滾尿流 — pì gǔn niào liú — to piss one's pants in terror (idiom)
- 悠哉悠哉 — yōu zāi yōu zāi — free and unconstrained (idiom)
- 饮鸩止渴 / 飲鴆止渴 — yǐn zhèn zhǐ kě — literally drinking poison in the hope of quenching one's thirst (idiom)
- 不知所以 — bù zhī suǒ yǐ — to not know the reason · to not know what to do
- 军令如山 / 軍令如山 — jūn lìng rú shān — military orders are like mountains (idiom) · a military order must be obeyed
- 志得意满 / 志得意滿 — zhì dé yì mǎn — fully content with one's achievements (idiom)
- 运用自如 / 運用自如 — yùn yòng zì rú — to have a fluent command of (idiom)
- 迂回曲折 — yū huí qū zhé — meandering and circuitous (idiom) · complicated developments that never get anywhere