巧不胜拙 — “Cleverness cannot overcome clumsiness”
巧不胜拙 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Sometimes elaborate or ingenious methods are not as effective as simple, even seemingly clumsy approaches; plain effort can outweigh cleverness”. Literally, “Cleverness cannot overcome clumsiness”.
巧不胜拙 Pronunciation and Pinyin
巧不胜拙 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 巧不胜拙
Idioms Related to 巧不胜拙
Synonyms of 巧不胜拙
More idioms starting with 巧
- qiǎo巧shàng上jiā加qiǎo巧adding ingenuity to ingenuity
- qiǎo巧bù不kě可jiē接too ingenious to be matched
- qiǎo巧bù不kě可jiē阶too ingenious to be surpassed
- qiǎo巧wěi伪bù不rú如zhuō拙chéng诚Clumsy sincerity is better than artful hypocrisy
- qiǎo巧wěi伪qū趋lì利crafty and false, pursuing gain
- qiǎo巧zuò作míng名mù目invent clever pretexts for improper purpose
- qiǎo巧tōu偷háo豪duó夺cunningly defraud and forcefully seize
- qiǎo巧fā发qí奇zhòng中make a clever and accurate prediction
- qiǎo巧qǔ取háo豪duó夺acquire by trickery or force
- qiǎo巧tóng同zào造huà化ingenious like nature's creation
- qiǎo巧duó夺tiān天gōng工exquisitely skillful, surpassing nature
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Open the tool →Questions about 巧不胜拙
What does 巧不胜拙 mean?
巧不胜拙 (qiǎo bù shèng zhuō) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Sometimes elaborate or ingenious methods are not as effective as simple, even seemingly clumsy approaches; plain effort can outweigh cleverness”.
How do you pronounce 巧不胜拙?
巧不胜拙 is pronounced qiǎo bù shèng zhuō in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 巧不胜拙 literally mean?
Literally, 巧不胜拙 means “Cleverness cannot overcome clumsiness”. It is used to mean “Sometimes elaborate or ingenious methods are not as effective as simple, even seemingly clumsy approaches; plain effort can outweigh cleverness”.
What is the Chinese definition of 巧不胜拙?
拙：笨拙。有时巧捷不如笨拙