望文生義
wàng​wén​shēng​yì

to interpret too literally

  • created sense approved 望文生义/望文生義 · wàng​wén​shēng​yì · to interpret too literally — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    望文生义 / 望文生義

    wàng​wén​shēng​yì

    to interpret too literally

    to interpret the meaning of a text purely from its surface characters without understanding its true sense; to make a far-fetched interpretation based solely on literal wording

    望 (literal) → 望 · wàng · to gaze 文 (literal) → 文 · wén · writing 生 (literal) → 生 · shēng · to give rise to 义 (literal) → 义/義 · yì · meaning

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

    created sense