clumsy; awkward; slow-witted

clumsy; botched; inferior; of poor quality

to try to be clever and end up making things worse; to overreach oneself and fail; to end up with egg on one's face

a humble way to refer to one's own book, work, or manuscript; literally "my clumsy writing"

(humble) My own clumsy writing or literary work; my unworthy manuscript.

Humble Administrator's Garden; a famous classical garden in [[苏州|蘇州|su1 zhou1]], Jiangsu Province, known for its water features and bridges. Its name comes from the idea of the clumsy or simple man's way of governing.

(humble) used when apologizing for failing to recognize someone or for failing to notice a detail; literally "clumsy eyes"

diligence can remedy ineptitude or lack of natural talent; hard work overcomes clumsiness

quaintly simple and unadorned; having a rustic and classical simplicity

a polite way to refer to one's own opinion or views

sincere and unaffected; simple and honest in a way that lacks artificial polish or flattery

childish and crude; describing a style of art or writing that is simple, unpolished, or naive in an awkward but often charming way

simple and natural; austere and unadorned; humble in style

A person of great wisdom or skill does not show off and may appear slow-witted or simple on the surface.

to overreach oneself by trying to be too clever; to try to be smart but end up making things worse

stupid and clumsy; foolish and ignorant

clumsy; awkward; lacking skill or intelligence

not good at speaking; clumsy in speech; lacking eloquence

(humble) a polite way to refer to one's own writing, calligraphy, or painting

Describes someone who is not good at expressing themselves or is a poor speaker; tongue-tied

(humble) my poor manuscript; my unworthy writing

clumsily or roughly made; crude and low-quality

To find oneself in a worse position despite exhausting every mental effort; used to describe when one's scheming or dishonest efforts result in increasing difficulty or failure.

To show oneself up; a humble way to speak of showing one's own work or skill to others.

to use diligence and hard work to make up for one's lack of natural talent or clumsiness

clumsy in speech; an awkward speaker

to be clumsy or unable to express oneself clearly; poor at speaking

describes someone whose thinking or behavior is out of touch with reality and lacking in cleverness; old-fashioned and clumsy

straightforward and good-natured; simple and frank

to be awkward in speech; having a poor ability to express oneself verbally

(idiom) a clever ruse is not as good as simple honesty; the unvarnished truth is better than a cunning lie

clumsy-tongued or unable to express oneself clearly; poor at speaking

clumsy and difficult to understand, used to describe writing or literary style that is unpolished and lacks flow

(literary) to maintain a simple and rustic lifestyle away from public life or official duties; often used as a self-deprecating way to describe living in retirement or seclusion

(literary) to remain honest and humble without seeking fame or wealth; to stay true to one's simple nature and avoid worldly schemes

skillful and clumsy; exquisite and inferior; the quality or skill level of a piece of work

a clever woman is often paired with a clumsy or dull husband; a common observation about the irony of mismatched marriages

An idiom describing a common observation that clever or beautiful women are often married to clumsy or unremarkable men; similar to the phrase [[巧妇常伴拙夫眠|巧婦常伴拙夫眠|qiao3 fu4 chang2 ban4 zhuo1 fu1 mian2]]

Dull-witted and slow-tongued; often used as a self-deprecating way to say one is not good with words

dull-witted and slow-tongued; often used as a self-deprecating expression

humble way of referring to one's own wife

a humble way for a woman to refer to her own husband

(humble) my wife

big and strong; solidly built

(literary) person with poor judgment or limited insight

(literary) a humble way for a man to refer to his own wife; my wife

a poor strategy or clumsy scheme

clumsy in thought and speech; not good at responding or making conversation (often used as a humble expression regarding oneself)

unlucky and in a bad situation; to be down on one's luck