烂泥糊不上墙 / 爛泥糊不上牆

làn​ní​hú​bù​shàng​qiáng

useless

(proverb) literally meaning mushy mud cannot be used to plaster a wall; used to describe someone who is so inept or worthless that they cannot be helped or improved no matter how much support they receive

làn​ní​hú​bú​shàng​qiáng

烂泥 (literal) → 烂泥/爛泥 · làn​ní · mud 糊 (literal) → 糊 · hū · to plaster 不 (literal) → 不 · bu · [potential] 上 (bound) → 上 · shang · on 墙 (literal) → 墙/牆 · qiáng · wall

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

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM