HSK 6 · Ideas

画蛇添足 huàshétiānzú “to spoil something by adding the unnecessary (lit. drawing legs on a snake)” in Chinese

Traditional 畫蛇添足

What 画蛇添足 means

  1. to spoil something by adding the unnecessary (lit. drawing legs on a snake)
  2. lit. draw legs on a snake (idiom)
  3. fig. to ruin the effect by adding sth superfluous
  4. to overdo it

How to say 画蛇添足

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale画huà4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale蛇shé2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale添tiān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale足zú2nd tone, rising

画蛇添足 in a sentence

  1. 不要画蛇添足。

    Búyào huàshétiānzú.

    Don’t overdo it — leave well alone.

    Sentence #806189 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 画蛇添足 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 画 (huà) with each of its parts in a different colour
画huàto draw; to paint
  • 一one · yī
  • 田field · tián
  • 凵open box · kǎn

Memory aidSimplified from 畫, a brush marking out the borders of a field 田: to draw, a picture.

The character 蛇 (shé) with each of its parts in a different colour
蛇shésnake
  • 虫insect · chóngMeaning part
  • 它it · tāSound part

虫 hints at the meaning (insect); 它 (tā) hints at the sound. Compare it with shé.

The character 添 (tiān) with each of its parts in a different colour
添tiānto add; to increase; to replenish
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 忝shame · tiǎnSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 忝 (tiǎn) hints at the sound. Compare it with tiān.

The character 足 (jù) drawn as one shape
足zúfoot; leg

足 is a single shape of 7 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a leg with a foot below: foot. You see it on the left of 跑 (pǎo) “run”, 跳 (tiào) “jump” and 踢 (tī) “kick”.

How to write 画蛇添足

画 8 strokes · 蛇 11 strokes · 添 11 strokes · 足 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 画蛇添足

Words with 画

画huà · draw画家huàjiā · painter动画片dònghuàpiàn · animated film漫画mànhuà · comic

Words with 蛇

蛇shé · snake

Words with 添

增添zēngtiān · to add锦上添花jǐnshàngtiānhuā · to make something even better

Words with 足

足球zúqiú · football踢足球tīzúqiú · to play football (football)满足mǎnzú · to satisfy不足bùzú · insufficient立足lìzú · to gain a foothold充足chōngzú · sufficient十足shízú · complete足以zúyǐ · enough to举足轻重jǔzúqīngzhòng · to play a decisive role微不足道wēibùzúdào · insignificant

More words: Ideas & Concepts

毫米háomǐ · millimetre痕迹hénjì · trace宏观hóngguān · macro环节huánjié · link活力huólì · vitality见解jiànjiě · view见闻jiànwén · what one sees and hears见义勇为jiànyìyǒngwéi · to act bravely for a just cause

FAQs

画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú) means “to spoil something by adding the unnecessary (lit. drawing legs on a snake)” or “lit. draw legs on a snake (idiom)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it huàshétiānzú: huà with a 4th tone, then shé with a 2nd tone, then tiān with a 1st tone, then zú with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 画蛇添足 is written 畫蛇添足. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type huashetianzu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 画蛇添足 from the suggestions. Typing huashetianzu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
画蛇添足 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.