恨鐵不成鋼
hèn​tiě​bù​chéng​gāng

to be disappointed that someone falls short of expectations

  • created sense approved 恨铁不成钢/恨鐵不成鋼 · hèn​tiě​bù​chéng​gāng · to be disappointed that someone falls short of expectations — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    恨铁不成钢 / 恨鐵不成鋼

    hèn​tiě​bù​chéng​gāng

    to be disappointed that someone falls short of expectations

    to feel frustrated or impatient that someone has failed to meet one's high expectations for their improvement; literally "to resent that iron does not turn into steel"

    恨 (literal) → 恨 · hèn · to regret 铁 (literal) → 铁/鐵 · tiě · iron 不成 (literal) → 不成 · bù​chéng · to fail 钢 (literal) → 钢/鋼 · gāng · steel

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

    created sense