弄巧反拙
nòng​qiǎo​fǎn​zhuō

to backfire

  • created sense approved 弄巧反拙 · nòng​qiǎo​fǎn​zhuō · to backfire — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    弄巧反拙

    nòng​qiǎo​fǎn​zhuō

    to backfire

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

    nòng​qiǎo​fǎn​zhuó

    弄 (literal) → 弄 · nòng · to play with 巧 (literal) → 巧 · qiǎo · skillful 反 (literal) → 反 · fǎn · on the contrary 拙 (literal) → 拙 · zhuō · clumsy

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense