画蛇添足 huàshétiānzú

1. draw legs on a snake (idiom)
2. to ruin something by adding something superfluous

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 画蛇添足 will read it the same way this page does.

画蛇添足 is written with 4 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

What does 画蛇添足 mean in English?

画蛇添足 is pronounced huàshétiānzú and means draw legs on a snake (idiom), to ruin something by adding something superfluous.

How do you pronounce 画蛇添足?

画蛇添足 is huàshétiānzú in pinyin — written huashetianzu without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 画蛇添足?

画蛇添足 is written with 4 characters: 画 (huà) Draw (paint - drawing - painting), 蛇 (shé) Snake (serpent), 添 (tiān) Add (increase - replenish), 足 (zú) Foot (ample - as much as - enough). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 画蛇添足 written in traditional Chinese?

畫蛇添足. The simplified form 画蛇添足 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 畫蛇添足 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced huàshétiānzú.

Is 画蛇添足 an HSK word?

Yes — 画蛇添足 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.